Heather Together
by Cke1st
Summary: What would it take to realistically get Hiccup away from Astrid and into someone else's arms? If that someone-else washed ashore in the middle of the movie, instead of later during the CN series, things might have turned out very differently. I wrote this because several people requested it. Rated T for a bit of lime flavor at the end; the language is all K. Heathercup.
1. Chapter 1

**Heather Together** Chapter 1

A/N What would it take to get Hiccup away from Astrid and into the arms of someone else? Well, if that someone-else washed ashore in the middle of the movie, instead of much later during the CN series... things might have turned out very differently.

I wrote this story because multiple people requested it. Rated T for a bit of lime flavor at the end. The language is all K. Heathercup.

**o**

Hiccup was pretty sure he'd have trouble falling asleep tonight.

He'd taken his first untethered ride with Toothless today, and nearly got them both killed. Together, they'd survived a mile-long free-fall and a full-speed ride through a maze of rocks that should have been the death of them. In the process, they'd shown one another that they could trust each other with their lives, even if his dragon _did_ force him to fly through his own fireball. Then he'd learned that the Book of Dragons was full of terrible errors about Terrible Terrors, which forced him to wonder what other mistakes were in that book that supposedly contained "everything we know about every dragon we know of."

Now they were flying back to the cove, slowly and easily. He would leave Toothless there, where he'd be safe, and walk back to town. There, he would continue to watch his life spiral out of control. Everyone in town thought he was a great dragon fighter, even though killing the great creatures was the last thing he ever wanted to do. Their adulation would turn to hatred if they ever knew he was riding and befriending a dragon! And Astrid, whom he'd been crazy about ever since he realized girls were different from boys, was one step away from hating his guts. He'd committed the unpardonable sin of outdoing her in Dragon Training, mostly due to the things he'd learned about dragons from the Night Fury. Yes, it was wonderful to have a friend like Toothless, but he was paying a steep price for that friendship. All this stress would keep him tossing and turning for hours.

As they flew home, he glanced down. On the beach below them, there was a small overturned boat. Berk lived from the sea and the fish they caught from it; they took very good care of their boats. An abandoned boat was something unusual. He directed Toothless to land near it, walked over, and looked underneath it.

He found a very scared-looking girl.

"Uhh, hey," he stammered. "Hey, there!" She started away, frightened.

"It's okay! We're friends!" he tried to explain.

"Do you have any water?" she asked through parched lips.

"No, but we can take you to where there's plenty," he said.

"We?" she asked. Toothless chose that moment to stick his head under the boat, and the girl pulled back in terror.

"It's okay! He's a friend, too."

"That's a dragon!" she gasped.

"Yeah, I'm glad you noticed that. This is Toothless, I'm Hiccup, and you are...?"

"Heather."

"Okay. Toothless, this is Heather." The dragon sniffed and backed away, his eyes narrowing to slits.

"He's not real good with strangers, but he won't hurt you," Hiccup went on.

She shook her head in disbelief. "W-where am I?"

"This is Berk," he answered. "How did you wind up here?"

"My family and I were on our way home to our island when our boat was attacked by pirates," she said. "They attacked our boat and took us back to our island, laying siege to it. I was able to escape, but my mother and father – they weren't so lucky."

He extended his hand to her; she took it hesitantly. "Let me take you back to the village. You can get food and water there, and a place to stay. My dad's the chief; he'll get you whatever help he can give. Of course, he's not here today; he's out hunting dragons."

She stood slowly. "Your dad is _hunting_ dragons... and you're _friends_ with a dragon?"

"Yeah, it's complicated," he nodded. "And the part about me being friends with a dragon... that isn't exactly public knowledge. I'd really, _really_ appreciate it if it stayed that way."

"Got it," she nodded. He climbed into Toothless' saddle and held out his hand to her. She took it even more hesitantly this time, but allowed herself to get seated on the black dragon's back.

"Take us back to the cove, Toothless, nice and easy." The dragon grunted, but flew straight and low to the place he called 'home.' As soon as they dismounted, Heather ran for the water and took a long, deep drink. She didn't even care that her thick black braid got soaked.

"Oh, that is _so_ much better! Thank you," she sighed. "Now, where's this town we're going to?"

"It's a bit of a walk," he said. "Almost an hour, more if you're tired."

"I think I qualify," she nodded. "While we walk, can you tell me more about this dragon you're riding?"

"Toothless is... kind of a secret," he began. "But since you already know about him, I can't see any harm." As they walked, he explained how he'd brought the Night Fury down in battle, set him free, won his trust, and built the saddle and artificial tail so he could fly again.

"I never heard of someone being a friend to dragons before," she said. "Most Vikings just want to kill them."

"I think they all do, except for me," he said ruefully. "I'm doing well in Dragon Training, but I've never landed a blow on a dragon in my life. If I'm not careful, I could win it all, and – oh, joy! – would Astrid ever love me for _that!_"

"Who's Astrid?"

"Oh, she's... she's this girl," he shrugged. "She's a great fighter. She was winning in Dragon Training until I started doing better."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

He chuckled sadly. "I wish. She's mad at me because I'm beating her in Dragon Training. Even if she wins, I don't think that will do me any good. She never even knew I existed until I got in her way."

They walked on in silence until they got to the village. Hiccup explained that he would probably be mobbed when he got there, but he'd try to introduce her to as many people as possible. She nodded dubiously; it didn't seem possible that someone as thin and un-Viking-like as Hiccup would be the subject of public adulation.

Nevertheless, that was exactly what happened. As he walked down the street, men and women dropped what they were doing to greet him and ask how he was doing. He introduced Heather to all of them; the teen-age boys were especially eager to make her acquaintance. When she stopped following Hiccup because she felt crowded, the ones named Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut followed her instead. That was no problem; she knew how to handle boys.

One girl stood off at a distance, scowling. "Would that be Astrid?" Heather asked her little flock of admirers.

"Yes, that would be Astrid," Snotlout nodded. "She's mine; she just doesn't know it yet. But there's plenty of me to go around. I'm not selfish."

"That's good to know," she smiled.

As the sun went down, Hiccup arranged for Heather to sleep in his room until they could make other arrangements. "I have to spend a little time in the forge," he said. "I'll be back later."

She stretched out on the bed in Hiccup's room. For the first time since she'd landed on Berk, she had some time to think.

_My project is off to a good start,_ she thought. _This Hiccup is good at fighting dragons, he rides his own pet dragon, and he's very trusting. Savage will be happy to hear about him._

Another part of her thought, _He's trusting and kind, and he isn't full of himself like most boys. Do I really want to hand him over to __them__?_

_You have to,_ said the first part of her mind. _It's the only way you'll ever see your parents again._


	2. Chapter 2

**Heather Together** Chapter 2

Heather spent the morning walking around Berk. She casually asked people about the population, the docks, the catapults, the quality of their weapons, anything she could think of. She made sure not to ask the same person more than one question, so no one's suspicions would be raised. But, little by little, she was forming an accurate picture of Berk as a military target.

In mid-morning, people started migrating toward the edge of town. "What's going on?" she asked someone.

"Dragon Training," he replied. "It's the final round of the year. It looks like Hiccup is going to win it all, with his dad watching!" She joined the crowds and found a place among the other spectators.

The ring was set with a double row of flimsy-looking wooden obstacles that would never stand up to dragon fire. Apparently they were only for hiding behind, not for any real protection. Six young people, including Hiccup, filed into the ring with weapons in their hands; the crowd cheered. Hiccup was wearing a new horned helmet that somehow looked too big for him. He saw her and waved.

Then the dragon was released – it was a Gronckle, she thought – and the six young warriors scattered in search of shields. Snotlout found one just in time; the dragon spat a fiery ball that hit his shield just as he was picking it up. "Snotlout, you're done!" called the training master. The beefy young man slunk out of the arena and found a place next to Heather.

They watched as the dragon disposed of one opponent after another, until only Hiccup and Astrid were left.

"The smart money's on Hiccup," Snotlout confided to her.

"Does that mean you bet on Astrid?" she asked innocently.

"Yeah. How'd you know that?" he demanded.

Astrid found cover behind the same obstacle that Hiccup was using. Heather couldn't hear them over the roar of the crowds, but it looked like she had some strong words for him. Then they separated. The dragon was circling the ring in search of more targets... and then it found one. Hiccup had left cover and was standing at the edge of the ring!

"Hiccup, be careful!" she shouted. The dragon charged at him. At the same time, Astrid broke cover and rushed behind the Gronckle with a loud battle cry.

Heather wasn't quite sure what happened next. Hiccup had dropped his weapon, shield, and helmet somehow, and met the charging dragon with an outstretched arm and empty hand. His back was to her; she couldn't see what he did. But suddenly, the Gronckle's eyes rolled back into its head and it thudded to the ground, limbs dangling limply in all directions. Astrid rushed up behind it, about three seconds too late to strike a blow. The crowd roared. The fight was over!

Snotlout banged his fist against the safety rails, angry because he'd lost his bet. Astrid was even angrier; she threw a full-scale tantrum in front of everyone, and nearly decapitated Hiccup in the process.

"Maybe Hiccup should subdue _that_ dragon while he's at it," Heather said to Snotlout.

"Yeah, she's a spitfire," he agreed. "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque attitude. I like 'em spirited. That makes it more fun to break 'em so they're meek and obedient. Do _you_ think girls should be meek and obedient?" He leered at her.

She smiled back. "Did I ever tell you about the time I broke a boy's nose because I didn't like the way he looked at me?"

"No, Heather, you didn't." He was still leering. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

"Keep looking at me that way, and you'll _know_ all about it, first-hand." She returned to watching the action in the ring, completely ignoring a crestfallen Snotlout. He returned to the ring to see the final outcome.

The town's Gothi had apparently chosen Hiccup as the big winner of Dragon Training. He looked less than enthusiastic as his friends paraded him around the ring (except for Astrid, who was left seething in their wake). He didn't see it as an honor, obviously. That made him a minority of one, judging by the reactions of everyone else in town.

_How_ had he knocked that dragon out with his bare hands?

Heather had an enquiring mind, and enquiring minds want to know. Some of her curiosity was on behalf of her project, but some of it was just for her.

When he slipped out of the ring, she followed him. Astrid was also following him. She saw Heather doing the same thing, and dropped back to remain unseen. Heather was intent on following Hiccup; she never knew that she herself was being trailed.

He got to the cove, also unaware that he'd been tailed. "We're leaving," he called to his dragon. "Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. Forever." He paused to open his pack and make sure everything he needed was inside.

When he glanced up, he found Heather reclining on a rock just a few feet away from him, smiling at him. He'd _never_ had a pretty girl smile at him before; it rattled his cage badly. "What the... uh, uh, what are you doing here?" he stammered.

"I just want to know what's going on," she said calmly. She slipped down the side of the rock, stretched languidly (which threw him even more off balance), and smiled again. "Nobody knocks out a dragon with his bare hands – it just can't be done, and every Viking knows that except you, because you just did it. Then you win your village's top prize, and all you want to do is run away? Nothing about this makes any sense."

"I know, this looks really bad, but I actually have my reasons," he said nervously. "Remember Toothless?"

At the sound of his name, the black dragon bounded happily out of the shadows... and saw Heather and stopped with a vicious snarl.

"I don't think he remembers me," she quavered.

"It's okay, Toothless! She's a friend!" The dragon didn't look pacified. "Toothless is the reason I did so well in Dragon Training. By spending time with him, I learned things about dragons that nobody ever knew before, like how to tickle them so they faint."

"You spend _time_ with it?" Heather said dubiously. "You make it sound like some kind of a _friend_. A _real_ friend!"

"He _is_ a real friend!" Hiccup replied. "He's kind of the only friend I've got." He rested his hand on the broad black muzzle. "He doesn't care if I'm weak, or if I break things, or if I'm not the perfect Viking. He just likes me. And I like him, and we look out for each other."

Heather gazed at them through narrowed eyes. "A _Night Fury_... is your best friend? You're asking me to accept a lot on your say-so."

"I can prove it," he said firmly, and gestured toward the dragon. "Want to go for a ride?"

She considered the hostile-looking dragon. Hiccup apparently had something more in mind than the short flight they'd taken the day before. He clearly trusted the creature, and it seemed just as clear that the creature didn't trust her.

Still, she had to find out what this dragon/rider pair could do. Savage would want to know.

There was also some curiosity of her own. There was something about this thin, quiet boy, this un-Viking, this loser – _no_. He was _not_ a loser. Losers don't outdo all their peers in Dragon Training. Losers don't tame Night Furies, and ride them, and direct them in flight. Whatever Hiccup was, he was no loser.

A loner, then? He seemed to want company; he just didn't have any, except for his dragon. He seemed quite happy to have _her_ company. She could certainly take advantage of that.

But taking advantage of _him_... that was something different. It just felt wrong. She'd used people before and hadn't batted an eyelash over it, if it had to be done. Why couldn't she just harden herself and do what she had to do?

Somehow, this thin boy with his clear green eyes was shaping up to be one of the most complicated people she'd ever met.

Whichever way she played it, she knew that, if she wanted to learn more about him, she had to get on his dragon's good side. She nodded and climbed onto the dragon's back. "Hang on," he suggested. Suddenly they were airborne and climbing fast.

Half a minute later, when Astrid finally found the entrance to the cove, it was deserted. She scowled and stormed back home, just as angry and frustrated as before.

Up in the air, Heather was getting concerned. "If we keep going up, we're going to hit our heads on those clouds."

Hiccup looked back at her and smiled. "Once we get close enough, try to touch them." She waited nervously until the nearest cloud was just above her head, then let go of his shoulder with one hand and reached up.

"Oh!" Her hand went right through it, like it wasn't even there! She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but this floating mass of fog wasn't it. She swished her hand from side to side, then cautiously let go of him with her other hand and ran both hands through the white, puffy mass. Toothless somehow sensed her delight, and kept a steady distance to the clouds as they glided silently through the air.

"What do you think?" Hiccup asked quietly.

"I think you've made the most amazing discovery since our ancestors found Iceland," she sighed. "Maybe better."

When the sun was gone, they looped up right through the clouds and came out above them. It was clear here, and cold. She leaned closer to Hiccup for warmth. Then she saw the aurora in its full glory, undimmed by any clouds, and she gasped with delight. Both her arms wrapped themselves around him; she sighed contentedly. If this was what it meant to ride a dragon, then she wanted "in" on that action.

They caught sight of Berk from above. This was probably Hiccup's favorite sight; to her, it was just one more little town. He seemed quite content to just ride around in the sky while she embraced him. She felt oddly content as well. She rested her chin on his shoulder. She realized she was smiling.

_Stay detached, Heather,_ she warned herself. _You've got more important things to do than give your heart away_.

_Would it be the death of anyone if I did what I came here for, and still enjoyed my time with a nice guy?_ she asked herself.

_Nice guys make things complicated,_ she answered herself. _Just get the information you need, get out, and don't come back. There's too much at stake to do anything else._

_I don't __want__ to do it that way,_ she rebuked herself. _So there_.

Suddenly, the flight turned unpleasant. Toothless took off on his own course, ignoring Hiccup's attempts to control him. They found themselves in the middle of a flock of dragons, and did their best to not look like prey.

Heather would have been happy to forget the rest of that flight. The crazed plunge into a volcano, the immense nest lined with dozens of unhappy dragons, and, worst of all, that giant _thing_ that ate dragons whole! From now on, when Heather heard about a Monstrous Nightmare, she would call it a Nightmare Junior. This immense dragon in the mountain was the _real_ monster, the _real_ nightmare. They barely escaped when it lunged at them.

They were both still shaking when they returned safely to the cove. "What are we going to do?" she asked him.

"We have to think this through," he replied. "If we tell the others how we found the nest, they'll know about Toothless and they'll kill him."

"That's even worse than you killing a dragon in the ring tomorrow, right?" she asked.

"I'm not looking forward to that part, either," he confessed.

Suddenly she realized – there was someplace else she had to be, and she should have been there an hour ago! She began to run away... and stopped. She turned back, walked over to Hiccup, and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

"That's for an amazing ride," she smiled. "Thank you." Then she turned and ran away, leaving him touching his cheek in amazement, glad that Astrid hadn't seen it.

Toothless ambled up next to him, letting out an amused rumble.

"W- what are _you_ looking at?" he stammered.

Heather ran at full speed back to the beach where she'd been dropped off, hoping against hope that Savage would still be there. He _was_ there, and he wasn't happy.

"I don't like being kept waiting," he snarled. "Make your report, child."

She rattled off figures – Berk's population, the number of warriors, the catapults, everything she could think of.

"That's all correct," Savage nodded, "and it's all old news. Tell me something Alvin doesn't already know! Otherwise, he might start wondering why he's wasting food and water on those parents of yours."

She'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but he left her no choice.

"There's a boy who made friends with a dragon," she blurted out. "He rides it and gives it orders. He won the town's Dragon Training because he knows more about dragons than anyone else, including the warriors."

"Really?" Savage was intrigued. "Yes, that's something Alvin will want to know about. I'll be back in a week. Bring this boy with you, or don't bother showing up at all!"

"Bring him?" she gasped. "Bring him to Outcast Island? How am I supposed to convince him to do that?"

Savage leered at her, much like Snotlout had done at the training ring, but even less pleasant. "He's a boy. You're a girl. Can you figure it out, or do I have to draw you a picture? I like those kinds of pictures." He licked his lips in a way that made her cringe. "Bring him any way you can, but if you want to see your parents again, _bring_ him!" He turned and climbed back into his ship before she could say another word.

_Now you've done it, Heather,_ she thought. _You can sacrifice Hiccup, or you can sacrifice your parents. __They're all innocent; __you're__ the guilty one, and you'll walk free no matter who you choose. Doesn't that make you feel warm all over?_

_It's a mess,_ was the only reply she could give herself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Heather Together** Chapter 3

The entire town turned out to watch their new champion slay his first dragon. The crowds were gathering long before he entered the ring. They were in for extra doses of blood and fear, and they couldn't wait!

Hiccup couldn't decide whether he wanted to wait longer, or just get it over with. He had to cool his heels in the ring entrance ramp until the appointed time, and just _that_ amount of waiting was killing him. He had to stand and listen while Gobber gave a little speech about the importance of dragon training, and describe how well each teen had done, for their parents' benefit. Then he had to endure the humiliation of hearing his father tell of his surprise that his son had succeeded at something, and hearing everyone else in his village laugh in agreement.

He heard something behind him. He was so keyed up, he jumped at the sound. It was only Heather. She looked worried.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Put an end to this," he said nervously. "I have to try." He took a breath. "Heather, if something goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless."

_He completely trusts me,_ she thought. _I'm on the verge of selling him to the Outcasts, and he __trusts__ me! It's a good thing I don't own a mirror; I'll never be able to look at myself again._

"I will," she said earnestly. "Just try not to let anything go wrong." He nodded. Then Gobber led him into the ring, turned back, and slid the portcullis down. She noticed that it slid easily, as though it was counterweighted; someone smaller than a full-sized Viking could probably work it if they had to.

She watched through the wooden bars as he donned the helmet that looked wrong on him, and selected a shield and a tiny dagger. He indicated his readiness, the great iron doors opened, and a large, flaming Nightmare Junior shot into the ring.

Its first thought was escape; it circled half the ring and jumped onto the ceiling chains before it even noticed the tiny-looking Viking standing forlornly in the center of the ring. It dropped to the floor and advanced on him, utterly unafraid. "Go on, Hiccup! Give it to him!" someone shouted.

Instead, he dropped his weapon and shield. The dragon looked at him, puzzled. He reached his open hands toward the dragon's nose. When it glared at his helmet, he cast that aside as well. His father shouted something, and Hiccup _shouted back at him_ – she'd lived in his home for days, and she'd never heard him so much as raise his voice to his father before! What was it with this boy and dragons?

In a moment, it no longer mattered. Stoick slammed his hammer onto the safety bars, the noise startled the dragon, and it instantly turned on Hiccup.

Something came over Heather; she could never say quite what it was. The portcullis was heavier than she expected, but she was suddenly working on an overdose of adrenaline. She heaved upward, and the gate slid up, just far enough for her to wriggle under it. She got into the ring just as the dragon was preparing another fire shot at Hiccup. "Hey! Dragon! Shoot _me!_" she shouted. The dragon spun its head toward her, and did exactly what she asked. _This wasn't your best idea ever,_ she thought as she dropped to the stone floor. The fire passed just over her – she could feel the heat – and coated the wall behind her with flames. The Nightmare saw that it had missed, and turned to chase her.

"Over here!" called a powerful voice. She ran without looking back, and just made it into the exit that Stoick had opened, before another squirt of dragon-fire blocked the way against Hiccup. He turned back... and the dragon pounced on him. She closed her eyes, covered her ears, and turned away in dread.

The muted sounds that reached her ears now were not the sounds of human agony. They were the sounds of two dragons fighting. She dared to take a look. _Toothless!_ How did he get here? He was protecting Hiccup, fighting against the much larger Nightmare... and _winning?_ She held her breath as the huge animal tried twice to get around Toothless to get to Hiccup, and twice, the black dragon fought it back. After those two attempts, the Nightmare gave up trying.

That was the Vikings' cue to swarm the ring. Toothless sent three of them flying, and nearly killed Stoick before Hiccup called him off. A moment later, the horde of Vikings had pinned Toothless' head to the floor and immobilized him.

Now, instead of a raging dragon, the rage was all in the eyes of the chief as he glared at his son.

When he dragged Hiccup away, she followed at a distance. She couldn't hear what they said inside the Mead Hall, except it was loud and angry. Then, suddenly, the doors burst open and the chief strode out, bellowing, "Ready the ships!" He blew past her without even noticing her existence.

She stared, fascinated, as the village emptied itself and all its weaponry into its fleet of ships and sailed off beyond the horizon. It only took a few hours; it was as though they'd practiced it before. It wasn't until the last of the ships was almost out of sight that she realized – Hiccup hadn't come out of the Hall yet.

Inside the Hall, she found him lying on the floor, nearly in a state of shock. She knelt beside him to help him sit up. "Hiccup, what happened?"

He looked at her in the semi-darkness, his eyes two pools of pain. "I've been disowned," he half-sobbed. "I've been kicked out of the tribe, and they took Toothless."

_This is it, Heather. This is your big chance. Don't blow it._

"You mean you have no place to go?"

"Nowhere," he sighed.

"That's not right!" she exclaimed. "Someone like you ought to be recognized and honored, not punished!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought once," he said sadly. "Now there's _nobody_ who's _ever_ going to think anything good about me."

"What if there _was_ somebody?" she asked, resting a hand on his shoulder. "What if there _were_ people who wanted what you have to offer?"

He stared at her, incredulous. "Like who?"

"I could take you to them," she said with a reassuring smile. "In six days, a boat is going to come. We could sail away and take you to a new life."

"A new life with who? The Berserkers?"

"No, not them. There's a Viking named Alvin, and he –"

"Alvin?" Hiccup burst out. "You want me to join the _Outcasts?_ I'm no Outcast!"

"Actually, you are," she said, as soothingly as she could. "Your own tribe has rejected you. Your own _father_ has rejected you! You don't owe them _anything_ anymore. Alvin can make you _somebody!_ He can offer you honor, recognition, power, whatever you want!"

He looked at her; she could not read his expression. For a moment, she thought he was thinking it over. Could it be that easy? But then he shook his head slowly. "I can't do that," he said. "They're still my friends and my family, no matter what they say about it. I can't just turn my back on them because they've turned on me – that would make me just like them! Besides, if I turn on Berk, I know I'll never see Toothless again."

"Then don't turn on Berk!" she exclaimed. "With Toothless, you could depose Alvin and become the dragon-riding chief of the Outcasts! Imagine – a whole tribe, doing what you say! Think of the good you could do!"

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, sure. Me, the chief of the Outcasts. I can see it now. 'All hail Hiccup, our thin, muscle-free, accident-prone Chief!' I wouldn't last a day with that bunch."

Then his expression hardened. "What's your angle here? Are you _working_ for the Outcasts?"

_Play it smooth, Heather, or you'll lose it all,_ she thought.

_He trusted me and I've betrayed him,_ she thought back.

_Make up a clever story and maybe he'll give you another chance_.

She looked in those green eyes again, and her resolve faltered, then failed completely. Her game and her plans had failed as well. All that was left was simple honesty, and that _never_ worked. It was over.

She turned away from him. "Hiccup... I'm sorry. I've been keeping the truth from you. There were no pirates. It was the Outcasts who captured my family. They're holding my parents prisoner until I give them something that will help them take over this island. The only thing I could offer them was you." She was trying not to cry.

"Me? Why me?"

"Can you imagine the Outcasts storming ashore, with you and Toothless flying overhead, flaming everything and everyone in sight? You could have made Alvin's dreams of conquest come true! He would have rewarded you for that – money, power, honor, whatever you wanted... if only you'd fallen for my story."

She turned back and forced herself to look him in the eyes. "I was ready to deceive you, to sell you, to _use_ you, to do whatever it took to get my parents back! But... you're just too _good!_ You're too honest, you're too trusting. No one _ever_ trusted me like that before." One stray tear rolled down her cheek. "I can't do it! Doing that to you would be too high a price to pay, even for my family. I would have done it to Snotlout or any of the others without hesitating... but I can't do it to you."

She turned away again in utter despair. "So now you know what a liar I am. You'll probably never talk to me or trust me again, and I wouldn't blame you. I've failed, thanks to what little conscience I have left. Go find your destiny, wherever it is, and I hope it's a good one. I'll try to think of something else, before I run out of time."

She heard him stir. After a few seconds, he laid his hand on her shoulder.

"The first thing we'll have to do is get Toothless back."

"We?" That stunned her into silence for several seconds. At last she found her voice again. "You make it sound like I'm part of your plan."

"I need you to help me, Heather. You're smart, you're brave, you think fast... I can't do this alone."

"I also lie, manipulate, and deceive!" she exclaimed, turning to face him again. "How can you possibly trust me? How could you _want_ to?"

"I'm just that kind of a guy, I guess," he shrugged. "I get this feeling you're done playing games, and I'm about to meet the real Heather. I think I'll like her. I hope she sticks around for a while so I can get to know her."

She revised her opinion about how simple honesty never worked. _His_ simple honesty was working _great_ on _her!_ Her strong façade crumbled; she flung her arms around him, unable to hold the tears back. "After everything I meant to do to you, _how_ could you...?" she sobbed.

"If you knew how many times _I've_ messed things up, you wouldn't feel so bad," he said. He held her, somewhat awkwardly, until she got herself back under control.

"You said we need to get Toothless back?"

He nodded. "He's a Night Fury. I can't think of anything else that could save my tribe, and he also might be able to help save your parents."

She gaped at him in dumbstruck silence for several seconds. Finally, she managed to ask, "How are we going to do that? Your ex-tribe is sailing away with him right now!"

He shrugged. "Eh, there must be _something_ stupid I haven't tried yet."

"No offense, Hiccup, but I think you used up your quota of 'stupid' back in the training ring."

"The training ring..." he murmured to himself. A glimmer of light shone in those green eyes. "In that case, I'll try something crazy." He left at a run.

_You may need more help than just me,_ she thought. _We've all seen how much help I can be. You'll need some __real__ friends._ She left to find the other teens.


	4. Chapter 4

**Heather Together** Chapter 4

Heather found the teens sitting in a circle on one of the catapult platforms, talking about the strange things that had happened today, and wondering what they should do with themselves while the village was nearly deserted. She doubted she'd have much trouble pushing their buttons, and for the most part, she was right.

"Listen up," she exclaimed. "Your tribe is headed into terrible danger, and they don't know it. Hiccup has some kind of a plan to help them, but he can't do it alone."

"Why should we do anything to help that Viking reject?" Snotlout demanded.

"_I'm_ going," she said with a flirty smile. He smiled back. _One down. I figured he'd be easy._

"What's he going to do?" Fishlegs asked.

"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with dragons. You could learn things about dragons that nobody else knows."

"Oooh! I'm in!" he exclaimed. _Two down._

"You said, 'terrible danger'?" Ruffnut wondered.

"Very dangerous and scary," she replied. "It's probably something no other Viking has ever dared to try before."

"We're in!" the twins chorused. _Three and four down. One to go, and of course, she'd be the hard one._

Astrid glared at her. "I am not lifting _one finger_ to help that cheating gurrybutt do _anything!_"

"The rest of your friends are going, Astrid. Don't you owe it to the group?"

"I would, if the group was doing something smart, but _this_ isn't it!" Astrid snapped back. "Hiccup got what he deserved. If I help him, I might be an accessory to whatever his crimes are!" _Darn. Try another angle._

"If you help save your tribe, there could be lots of honor and glory for you."

Astrid looked suspicious. "You're really trying to push my buttons, aren't you? It won't work." _She's right, it didn't work. Try something else._

"Astrid, which part of 'save your tribe' don't you understand? They have no idea what they're up against! With help, Hiccup could tip the scales in your people's favor; without help, he's just... Hiccup."

Astrid was still suspicious. "_They_ have no idea what they're up against? But _you_ do? How does _that_ work?"

"Fine. I'll tell you everything." Heather sat down next to them and hugged her knees. "Did anyone think it was strange that a Night Fury came to Hiccup's rescue this morning?" They all nodded "yes" to that.

"That dragon is Hiccup's friend. He's trained it and he's gone flying with it. He –"

"Prove that!" Astrid snapped.

"You might have noticed that it was wearing a saddle? He's taken me for a ride on it." Now they were all listening.

"That ride wound up taking us into the dragons' nest. There's a dragon in there, the mother of all dragons, bigger than this catapult and the rocks it's built on. It demands to be fed. The other dragons have to bring it food, or else it eats them instead. I saw it and heard it; I'm not making this up.

"If your tribe finds the nest and turns that dragon loose without realizing it, there aren't enough Vikings in the entire Northland to fight it. Your people are sailing straight toward their own extinction, and they don't know it."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Snotlout wondered.

"I don't know what Hiccup has in mind, but at least he has a plan," she answered. "We can find him in the training ring if we hurry." She rose and turned to leave. "Astrid, you owe it to your people to try and do something." She left without looking back. She heard enough footsteps behind her to know that most of the teens were following her.

At last, she heard Astrid sigh in aggravation and join the group.

As they entered the ring, they saw Hiccup in front of one of the dragon doors. He was apparently steeling himself to open it. Why?

Fishlegs spoke first. "If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." Suddenly the others were all over him, praising him and themselves and his plan that they knew nothing about. Heather stood with arms folded and let them make fools of themselves, but when Ruffnut got flirty on him, that was the last straw. She stepped right up to Hiccup, forcing him to back away, which allowed her to step in front of Ruffnut.

"So... what _is_ this plan of yours?" she asked. He smiled at the sudden realization that he'd just become the leader of the group.

"Okay," he began. "There's this dragon –"

"I've told them about that giant dragon in the nest," Heather said.

"It's too big for Vikings to fight," he nodded. "Only other dragons can take it on. So we're going to ride these dragons up there and try to save our tribe."

"Wait... didn't the tribe kick you out?" Ruff demanded.

"They're still my people, and I don't want to see them die," he replied.

"I don't want to see _me_ die, either," Fishlegs whimpered. "Don't dragons kill people?"

"Not if we treat them right," Hiccup answered. "I've learned a few things about dragons that nobody else ever knew. I'm about to show you how to make friends with a dragon so you can ride it."

"Heather, you were right!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "I'm all ears, Hiccup!"

"She was right about the dangerous part, too," Tuff grinned at his sister.

They watched, awe-struck, as Hiccup opened the doors to the Gronckle's cage, and pacified it with just his open hands and kind words. He did the same with the Deadly Nadder and the Hideous Zippleback, and finally with the Monstrous Nightmare that he'd tried to fight just a few hours ago.

"Now we have to choose riders," he said. "There are four dragons and seven of us, so we'll have to double up. Ruff, Tuff, you should ride the Zippleback together; you'll be naturals at it. Heather, you'll ride the Nadder; Legs, you're on the Gronckle; Lout, you definitely get the Nightmare. I'll double up with Heather until I get my own dragon back. Astrid, that leaves you riding with either Fishlegs or Snotlout."

Astrid glared at both of her possible rides. It looked like she was torn; the Nightmare was the more impressive dragon, but its rider was the one she'd least rather ride with (except Hiccup, of course). She finally settled onto the Nightmare's neck, and rested her hands on Snotlout's shoulders as lightly as she could. When he reached back to rest his hand on hers, she pulled back and gave his hand a good slap.

"Okay, let's ride, team! Heather and I know the way, so follow us. Stay together, don't try anything crazy on the way, and when the action starts, remember – the whole tribe's fate might depend on us. Let's go!"

With that, the world's first air force took off on its first mission, without the slightest idea how to control their "aircraft" or strike at their target.

Heather was hanging onto Hiccup for dear life. He'd jury-rigged a rope harness around the Nadder, but only one person could hang onto it, and he was riding in front, so he held the rope. The wind from their forward motion had blown her braid straight back; it made her slightly uncomfortable to not feel its comforting weight on her shoulder. "What are we going to do when we get there?" she asked him.

"We'll have to see what's happening when we arrive," he answered. "My first priority is to get Toothless free so I can get into the air with him. He and I are used to flying together; we can do more than the ones who aren't used to dragon flight."

"What about the rest of us?" she wondered.

"We'll make something up," he said. He sounded a lot more confident than she would have felt in his shoes.

They flew in silence. She glanced back now and then at the others. Fishlegs looked serious, even grim. The twins, on the other hand, were obviously having the time of their lives, and they didn't care who else knew it. Snotlout was somewhere between those two extremes, and Astrid still looked resentful about the whole thing.

"Hiccup," she asked quietly, "why did you put me on this dragon instead of Astrid? You've known her a lot longer than you've known me. I don't even live in Berk."

"I put you here because I have confidence in you," he answered. "I know you're smart, you're brave, and you think quickly. I just don't know where she's at anymore. I'd never question her courage, but I'm not sure she'll take orders from me. We're going into battle against horrible odds; I want the people closest to me to be people I can completely count on."

"Are you trying to make me cry again?" she asked. "After everything I tried to do to you, how can you say you can count on me like that? Don't you realize this might just be another level of lies I'm telling, so I can manipulate you somehow?"

"You saw that mega-dragon," he said. "You know what we're up against. If you weren't being honest with me, then you'd have tried any excuse to stay out of this battle. I think you've changed. Or maybe you've just gone back to who you really were in the first place. Either way, I'm a lot more comfortable with you at my back than I would have been with Astrid." He hung his head when he said that.

"You still like her a lot," Heather observed.

"I do," he nodded miserably, "but it doesn't seem to do me any good. When I fail, she ignores me; when I succeed, she resents me for it. Maybe if I die in battle today, _that_ will impress her."

"Hiccup, don't _talk_ like that!" she exclaimed, clutching him even tighter. He tensed up for a moment, and she realized how close she was to him. She almost relaxed her embrace, but didn't. Instead, she repeated, "Please don't talk that way."

"Yeah, are you trying to tell me someone would miss Hiccup the Useless, Hiccup the Rejected, if I was gone?" he said, with an edge in his voice.

"Yes," she whispered. "Someone would miss you very much."

They flew on toward their first battle. It would probably be their last battle as well. She made no attempt to let go of him, and he made no attempt to pull away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Heather Together** Chapter 5

"Where _is_ everybody?"

Snotlout's question was a good one. They had arrived at the menacing-looking island that was home to the dragons, and there was no sign of Vikings anywhere.

"Could the dragons have sunk all the ships before they got to land?" Fishlegs wondered.

"They couldn't have," Astrid answered him; it was the first time she'd spoken since they'd taken off. "When a ship sinks, it always leaves some loose stuff floating on the surface. We sent out twenty-five ships. If they'd _all_ been sunk, we'd definitely see shields, or oars, or..."

"Or floating bodies," Tuffnut finished.

"You _had_ to say it," Astrid snarled.

"Had to say what?" Tuff wondered.

"Maybe they went to the other side of the island," Fishlegs suggested.

Hiccup nodded. The Nadder banked gracefully to the left and curved around the volcanic mountain; the other three dragons followed them.

In a few minutes, they saw that they'd guessed right. They also saw that they were none too soon, as they watched their worst nightmare stomping around the battlefield, crushing ships with its jaws and chasing their relatives, who were in full retreat. It was about to lunge and devour two unusually brave (or unfortunate) Vikings who had separated themselves from the main group.

"Legs! They need dragon fire, _now!_" Hiccup shouted.

"How do I do that?" Fishlegs asked.

"_You_ don't do it, the _dragon_ does!" Snotlout shouted back.

"Okay, sure! Dragon, can you, uhh, shoot some fire at that big thing?"

Somehow, the Gronckle got the message. It opened its huge mouth, and a second later, a white-hot fireball shot out. The explosion looked like a glowing white crown on the huge beast's head. It roared in pain and forgot about the Vikings it had been about to eat.

The four dragons shot past the monster and circled around it, while Tuffnut called to the Vikings on the ground so they'd know he and his friends were riding dragons, as though they might not have noticed. They had a quick council of war in the sky; then the Nadder turned away to find Toothless while the other three dragons tried to keep the giant dragon distracted.

"There!" Hiccup pointed. Among the many burning war vessels was one with a long black shape struggling on deck. He guided the Nadder over the ship's deck, handed the harness to Heather, and jumped. "Go help the others!" he shouted, and turned to rescue his friend.

_Help the others?_ she asked herself. _Hiccup, if you and Toothless are our best hope, then I should be helping __you_.

He easily removed the leather strap that held Toothless' mouth closed, but the wooden yoke with its twin chains was another story. He was getting nowhere with it, and the monster dragon was getting dangerously close to them. What could she do? Could the dragon do anything? She tried to remember what Deadly Nadders were like. Dragon Studies had never been her favorite subject as a child... _Think, Heather! Hiccup is counting on you! Nadders... Nadders... Nadders have the hottest fire!_

"Hiccup! Step back!" she shouted. Then she reached forward so the dragon could see her hand as she pointed. "Dragon, can you see those chains? Can you blow some fire, right there? Do you understand what I want?"

It understood. It dove, and a shaft of sparkling white light flashed out of its mouth, tracing a U-shape around Toothless' head. One of the chains was melted in two instantly, and the other was softened enough by the heat that it snapped when Toothless pulled at it. Unfortunately, that shaft of fire also ignited the deck at Hiccup's feet. He jumped back without realizing how close he was to the ship's gunwales, tripped, and fell over the side into the ice-cold sea.

"Hiccup!" she screamed. There was nothing she could do from up here! She watched and waited helplessly for him to surface. Then she saw another splash nearby. A few seconds later, Hiccup's father burst to the surface and dragged his son to shore. Toothless leaped off the burning ship and joined them there, still wearing the wooden collar, snarling angrily at Stoick. Hiccup figured out the latch and opened the collar; Toothless shook it off and gestured for Hiccup to climb onto him.

For a few seconds, father and son talked. She had no idea what they said, but for them to take a time-out in the middle of a battle for the tribe's survival, it must have been important. Then Hiccup and Toothless leaped into the sky and joined the battle.

She looked to see how that battle was going. Fishlegs and the Gronckle were down, and it looked like they had barely avoided being stepped on. Snotlout was running around on the giant dragon's head, trying to avoid being thrown off, while Astrid was trying to reach the Monstrous Nightmare's horns from her "back seat" so she could control the thing. The Zippleback was circling the giant at a distance. _I guess "the others" needed help too,_ she thought.

"He's up!" Heather shouted. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, get Snotlout out of there!" They obeyed readily, albeit with some pushing and shoving, and they managed to get their dragon into position just as Snotlout jumped to what otherwise would have been his death. The Zippleback fled the battle zone. Astrid and the Nightmare followed; she was barely able to guide it by nudging the horns with her fingertips. Heather flew behind them to cover their retreat.

Behind her, she heard a rushing sound, then a roaring blast that sounded like a thunder strike at close range. All three dragons were in a line, and the titan had breathed fire in the hope of roasting them all with one shot. They all dodged it, but Heather's Nadder was closest to the monster and had the least time to dodge. It threw itself frantically through the air, barely escaping the pillar of flame... and tossing its rider off its back. She flew through the air and plunged downward hopelessly.

_This is how the gods judge me for the life I've lived,_ was all she had time to think as she fell – and then her fall ended with a jerk. She found herself hanging upside-down under Toothless as he clutched one of her boots with his paw. She heard Hiccup's voice, full of concern – "Did you get her?" The dragon looked under himself and smiled at her. She managed a pale grin and a wave.

The Night Fury swooped toward the ground, tossed her right-side-up, and set her down without losing too much airspeed. She was too shaken from her fall to stay on her feet, and she tumbled to the ground, skinning her hands and knees on the rocks. It hurt, but she still was able to look as Hiccup and his dragon gained height. "Go!" she whispered.

She couldn't see most of the battle that followed. Other people told her later about how Hiccup and Toothless tried to lure the giant into a head-on collision with thick rock formations, only to see the monster shoulder the rocks aside like stacks of children's blocks. They told her how boy and dragon flew upward to the safety of the clouds, dodging fire and dragon jaws on the way up. They told her how Toothless had shot hole after hole in the huge dragon's wings, and then lured it into a death dive into the ground.

But she saw the giant come down, and she saw it hit and explode. Her excitement at seeing Hiccup win was marred by her fear when she couldn't see him afterward. Where had he gone? What had become of him?

The clouds of ash and smoke cleared slowly. She could hear Stoick calling his son's name, without an answer. The whole army of Vikings was moving toward his voice, so she joined them. She heard the chief say Hiccup's name once more; with an effort, she pushed through the crowd to see him.

All she saw was Stoick fall to his knees in front of a battered black dragon whose saddle was torn and... empty.

"No," she gasped. "Oh, no..." She fell to her own knees, injured though they were, and hid her face in her hands as she wept hopelessly. If the other Vikings were bothered by her emotional display, she didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered now. Now she'd lost everything.

Stoick called his son's name again. She couldn't see what was happening. She heard the clatter of a helmet hitting the rocks, and after a few seconds, "He's alive! You've brought him back alive!" Did she dare look? She had to! She peered through her fingers, and saw Hiccup clutched in Stoick's arms. How he got there, she didn't know. She still cried, but now they were tears of pure relief.

She stumbled to her feet and ran to him, ignoring her hurt knees. He was deathly pale, battered all over, and barely breathing. She looked him over from head to – _not_ to toe. Her eyes got as far as that horribly maimed leg, and quickly returned to his face. He was still unconscious. That must have been a mercy to him.

Stoick had to lead his tribe. He had to supervise the emergency repairs to such of his ships as were repairable. He had to keep his people organized and busy. He couldn't do all this and also stay with his son. All of Berk's people had work that they had to do, even the teens who weren't officially part of Berk's warrior band yet. Heather, as a visitor, was the only one who had no work assignment. She stayed with Hiccup, cradling his head in her lap, stroking his cheeks with her fingertips, and urging him to wake up.

The other teens (excepting Astrid) dropped by now and then to check on him. "What's the deal with you two?" Snotlout demanded. "You hardly even know him! What did he ever do for you, that you're so stuck on him?"

"He trusted me," she answered simply. He didn't get it. To her, it said everything.

The next day, Gobber approached her with four strong Vikings. "Lassie, I'm thinkin' ye might want to let someone else tend the boy for a while."

"I'd like to stay," she replied quietly.

"I dinna think ye understand," he answered. He held out a saw that he'd been hiding behind his back. "There's somethin' we have to do to that leg, and I dinna think ye wanna be here when we do it."

She went wide-eyed; for a moment, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She looked down at his pale, still face. "If he wakes up, he might thrash and hurt his head. I'd like to stay."

"As ye wish," Gobber shrugged. "Ye better hold onto 'im tight." The other Vikings pinned down his arms and legs. She closed her eyes tightly. If she'd had another pair of hands, she would have plugged her ears, but she needed her hands to hold his head still in her lap. It turned out that she needed every ounce of strength she had. His screams would haunt her for a long time after that.

They were less than halfway done when a much louder sound drowned out everything. She looked up in time to see Toothless charging at them with a roar, determined to protect Hiccup from these men who were inflicting such pain on him! There was murder in his eyes.

She eased Hiccup's head to the ground and leaped up, putting herself between the boy and the dragon. "Toothless, no!" she screamed. "They're trying to help him!" He tried to veer around her; she moved to block him. He skidded to a halt with his head less than a foot away from her, snarling viciously. The other Vikings were on the verge of breaking and running.

"Toothless, you have to understand!" she begged. "He's hurt, and they're trying to make him better, but the cure is also going to hurt him! If they don't do it, it will be much worse! Please, don't attack! Let them do it! Don't hurt them!" He glared at her, puzzled, still growling, but he didn't charge any further. Color slowly returned to the other four Vikings' faces. She kept reassuring him and holding him off until the smith had finished the job.

When the ghastly work was done, and Gobber was applying bandages to the wound, he said quietly, "Thank ye, lassie. Very much. Ye did good work." Hiccup was silent and motionless. "He's out again. That might be a good thing. Perhaps he won't remember this part o' the adventure."

When enough ships were repaired to send the first group home to Berk, it was a given that Hiccup would be on the first ship. Heather begged to be allowed to accompany him. Stoick wasn't sure what to make of this girl from another village who had attached herself to his son. He could not deny her devotion, though, and he'd heard about her courage. She rode home with Hiccup's head in her lap, and Toothless wrapped around the two of them. When night fell, she leaned back against the side of the ship and caught some restless sleep.

Gobber came by with a torch to check on Hiccup's wound in the darkness. He could hear Heather saying something in her sleep, but all he could understand was, "He trusted me. He trusted me."


	6. Chapter 6

**Heather Together** Chapter 6

When Heather first arrived on Berk, Hiccup gave up his room for her and slept downstairs. He figured she'd be gone in a day or two, so he made no alternate arrangements for her. Then came the flight north and the battle with the Red Death. When he finally returned, he was comatose and missing nearly half of his left leg, so he was laid in the bed he'd been using downstairs.

Stoick was being run ragged with the demands of rebuilding his town's ships, accommodating a flock of dragons who had moved in, and supervising the village's reaction to those dragons, not to mention spending as much time by his son's side as he could. Finding a sleeping place for a visitor was so far down on his list of things to do, he never did it. She certainly didn't get in his way or cause him any trouble. So Heather remained in Hiccup's room, upstairs in the chief's house.

That made it very convenient for her to spend nearly every waking moment by Hiccup's bedside.

She was seldom alone. Aside from Stoick, Gobber visited several times a day, to change Hiccup's bandages and check on the healing of the wound. Gothi also visited Hiccup several times a week. She never made any encouraging faces, but she never wrote anything that Gobber could understand as bad, either. Most of the teens stopped by at least once a week to see if there was any change in Hiccup's condition. Other people in the town dropped by when they could.

Toothless, of course, never left his side at all. In that sense, she and Hiccup were never alone.

She was unable to watch Hiccup and still keep any kind of contact with the blue dragon she'd ridden. When Astrid made one of her rare visits, she asked Heather if she could work with the Nadder. "Sure," Heather answered. The other teens soon informed her that Astrid had formed a close relationship with the dragon and rode her often. "Good," she said. "That's good for both of them."

As the days dragged into weeks and Hiccup still didn't awaken, the casual visitors dropped off. Gobber didn't have to come so often, now that the wound was almost healed. One morning, he came to change the bandages and found them already changed. "I've been watching how you do it," Heather explained.

"Not a bad job for a first time," he nodded in approval. That was the last time he had to change them. She took care of it until the amputated leg had healed enough that it no longer needed bandages.

They had two close calls with infection. His fever rose, and nothing they did could cool him off. But somehow, his thin, battered body fought it off and his temperature returned to normal. Yet he remained unconscious through it all. It was as though he was holding on to life, yet refusing to embrace it.

Aside from sleep and meals, the only times she left his side for any length of time were the nights when she had to meet Savage and report to him. When her first week was up, he demanded to see the boy who trained dragons.

"He was badly injured in battle," she answered. "He's in a coma in his father's house."

He assumed she was bluffing. "Show him to me," he demanded.

"All right," she agreed, "but I suggest you walk quietly." She led him through the dark, quiet streets of Berk at midnight and brought him to Stoick's house. "He's in here, in the bed against the back wall, on the left," she whispered as she opened the door.

Savage stepped up to the door – and stopped dead as the doorway was suddenly filled with a huge scaly black head. Toothless sniffed him once and let out a quiet but deadly-sounding snarl. Savage's eyes went wide, and he turned and ran back to his ship so fast, one would have thought his pants were on fire. His pants actually had a different problem, but that stain couldn't be seen in the dark.

Heather patted Toothless on the nose. "I guess I forgot to warn him about the Night Fury," she whispered with a shrug and a grin. "Silly me."

Every week, Savage demanded the boy, and every week, she told him Hiccup was still unconscious. She gave him updates on the rebuilding of Berk's ships, and anything else she could think of. She wasn't trying to make it easy for Alvin to triumph any more. She was playing for time; she didn't want Alvin to do anything to her parents until Hiccup was awake and could help her think of something.

Starting around the fourth week, he began stirring for a few moments at a time. He might roll onto his side, or say a few random words, or snap his eyes wide open, and Toothless would yowl and her heart would leap because he was waking up... and then he would lapse back into unconsciousness again.

Halfway through the fifth week, she had run upstairs to change her clothes when she heard him murmuring. Toothless sounded excited as usual, and suddenly, she heard Hiccup cry out. His next words were quite coherent – "I'm in my house! _You're_ in my house. Does my dad know you're here?" Now it sounded like the dragon was knocking over everything he could bump into. Stoick was remarkably tolerant of having a dragon in his home, but he had his limits. She ran down the stairs, calling, "Toothless, stop your –"

...and Hiccup was sitting up in bed.

For a moment, she was stunned into speechlessness. Then she screamed his name and launched herself at him. She forced herself to not knock him flat – he was sure to be even weaker than usual from his long ordeal. He allowed her to fling her arms around him, but he seemed confused.

"Heather, it's nice to see you, too, but... what's all the excitement about?"

She couldn't talk. She couldn't think straight. She was hyperventilating. All she could do was cling to him. At last she regained some of her composure and partially let go of him.

"We were so afraid for you! We didn't think you were coming back!"

"Coming back?" he wondered. "From where? What's going on? Excuse me a second, I've got an itch like you wouldn't believe." He pulled the covers back –

...and stared. Just stared.

Toothless joined them by the side of the bed, crooning anxiously. She felt like she shouldn't say anything; she let him decide how this scene would play out. She sat on his right, Toothless stood by his left, and together, they let him begin to come to terms with his loss.

He looked at his leg, then at Toothless, then back to the leg, then at her. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself. Finally, he asked, "What happened?"

"No one really knows," she said through a throat that was tightening. "You brought down the Red Death, then something bad happened. We found you wrapped up in Toothless' wings. He'd crash-landed and kept you safe, except for..." She gestured at his leg.

He thought about that. "When?"

She looked in his eyes; this would be hard for him. "Almost five weeks ago," she whispered.

He stared back at her. "Five... weeks," he echoed. "No wonder I feel so out of it." He slowly swung his legs out of bed, took another deep breath, and stood up.

She ran around to the other side of the bed to help steady him, but he'd already taken his first step with his artificial leg, and nearly fallen. He tried another step as she reached for his elbow, and he fell right past her. Toothless caught him and helped him stand again, and this time she got a good hold of his right arm.

"Heather, thanks, but I need to learn to do this." Reluctantly, she let him go. He took baby steps, with one friend on either side of him, until he felt a bit more confident. He reached the door and pulled it open. Heather couldn't see what he saw, but he slammed the door shut again in a panic. "Toothless, Heather, stay here." He eased the door open again.

She stood next to Toothless as Hiccup stepped out and got his first look at the new Berk. She hadn't seen much of it herself – she'd spent so much of her time at his bedside – but she'd been aware that some major changes were taking place. Now, she stared in almost as much amazement as Hiccup at the multitudes of dragons that walked the streets, roosted on the roofs, and rested in a building that looked like it was built with them in mind.

"If it wasn't for you two, I'd assume I'm dead," he said at last.

"No, but you gave it your best shot," an almost-tearful Stoick answered. They had an emotional reunion as the rest of the town gathered around to welcome Hiccup home. Gobber presented him with a new saddle and riding gear, which was Toothless' cue to knock over everyone between him and Hiccup and demand to go flying.

Within minutes, he'd saddled his dragon and leaped into the air, where he was quickly joined by the other dragon-riding teens, including Astrid. They raced all over the town and soared high into the clouds, exulting in the freedom of flying.

Heather stood in the doorway, forgotten, and watched them go.


	7. Chapter 7

**Heather Together** Chapter 7

Hiccup didn't stay ungrateful for long. Starting the next day, he took Heather with him on his morning rides on Toothless' back. As he regained his strength, the rides grew wilder. She had to hold onto him very tightly to avoid falling off. He never seemed to mind.

On the fourth morning after he awoke, she helped him unsaddle Toothless and feed him his daily meal. Suddenly he caught her by the hand. "Heather, I was talking to my dad last night," he began. "He told me about how you took care of me when I was out of it. I wanted to thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, a bit surprised.

"I don't want to embarrass you or anything," he went on. "I know there are other things you could have been doing, maybe things you'd _rather_ have been doing."

"Like fending off Snotlout and his amorous advances?" she smirked.

"No, like trying to do something to get your parents set free," he said.

"I... I couldn't do anything about that," she stammered. "All the Outcasts want is you, and you were kind of unavailable."

"I'm available now," he smiled. "Let's see who else might help us."

The seven teens met in the training ring. Heather explained her situation.

"I _knew_ you were lying about something!" Astrid exclaimed. "There was just something wrong with the whole story!"

"I couldn't tell you the truth right away!" Heather protested. "I didn't know if I could trust you."

"Well, now we know _we_ can't trust _you,_" Astrid shot back.

"Look, guys, we can fight over this later," Hiccup cut in. "Right now, Heather's parents are in danger. Whether we like her story or not, _they're_ not to blame. I think we ought to at least try to get them out of there."

"That sounds like fun, and really dangerous," Ruff said. "I like that stuff, but only if I can come home afterward. This sounds like a one-way trip."

"Outcasts, not pirates? That's too bad," Tuff decided. "Pirates are cool. Outcasts are losers."

"Most Outcasts _are_ pirates!" his sister said. "An Outcast is just a pirate who got caught."

"Like I said, losers," Tuff nodded.

"Well, _I'm_ not afraid to go!" Snotlout announced. "I'll be right behind you the whole way, Astrid."

"That reassures me, because I'm not going, at least not with _her,_" she said firmly. "Flying into battle next to someone I can't trust is a bad move."

"You can trust _me,_ can't you?" Lout leered at her.

"As far as I can throw you," she replied. "Some day, I'd love to find out how far that is."

"What about you, Legs?" Hiccup asked.

Fishlegs squirmed. "There's something on Outcast Island that I'm very allergic to. I don't know if it's the catapults or the crossbows."

"Fine, I guess it's just the two of us," Hiccup sighed. As they left the ring, they heard Tuffnut singing,

"Hiccup and Heather, sittin' in a tree,  
"K-I-S-S... uhh, what comes after S-S?"

"Do you have a plan?" Heather asked him.

"I have a general idea," he nodded. "It has something to do with going in at night so they can't see us, finding your parents, and leaving."

"The trouble with that," she said, "is that it's kind of a big island, and we don't know where my parents _are_."

"Okay," he nodded. "Then how about a plan that goes like this...?"

**o**

It was well past midnight. Alvin was waiting impatiently at the ramshackle pier when Savage's little ship finally docked.

"No boy?" he demanded.

"No boy, and no girl, either!" Savage snapped back. "She never showed."

Alvin grunted. "I thought she cared more about her parents than that. That shows you even _I_ can be wrong sometimes, eh, Savage?" He slapped the smaller man on the back, which nearly knocked him off his feet. "What do you think? Should we kill them ourselves, set them adrift, or feed them to the dragons?"

"You won't do any of those things," came a young-sounding voice from over their heads. The black dragon was hard to see at night, even when it landed right in front of them. "You wanted the boy who trains dragons? Here I am. But I won't work for you unless Heather and her parents go free."

Alvin stared suspiciously at him. "You don't look big enough to train a _dog,_ boy!"

Hiccup slid off the dragon, followed by Heather. "Aren't you the one who used to say, 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog'? I can handle dragons well enough. See? I handle _this_ one just fine." He patted Toothless.

"I _did_ say that," Alvin nodded. "Back in the days when rigged dogfights were enough to keep me happy. I'm seeing a rigged fight, right here and now. _Why_ are you joining me?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Let's just say my father and I aren't getting along, and I'd like to try something different with my life. Something with a little less 'yes sir, no sir,' and a little more 'I ride the dragon, so _I_ make the rules'."

"If you work for us, then Alvin makes the rules," Savage interjected.

"I expect that," Hiccup nodded. "But I have a feeling Alvin can find better uses for dragons than my father can."

"Can you teach my men to ride dragons?" Alvin demanded.

"Sure, if they're willing to do it my way," Hiccup said casually. "It's not that hard, once you know what you're doing."

"What are your terms?" Alvin asked through narrowed eyes.

"I want a free hand with the dragons," he answered, counting on his fingers. "Heather and her parents go free. I want to report directly to you – no underlings between me and the big boss. I want an equal share of any plunder we take. And when we take over Berk, the girl named Astrid is mine."

Alvin chuckled in a low, menacing way. "I think I can work with someone like you. But first, you've got to prove that you can keep your promises. I want to see you train a dragon!"

"Deal," Hiccup shrugged. "Take me to a dragon and I'll train it."

A small procession wound uphill from the docks to the outdoor dragon cages. Four crossbowmen led the way, followed by Alvin, then Hiccup and Heather riding Toothless, then Savage, with four more crossbowmen bringing up the rear.

They came to a cage whose sole occupant was a Deadly Nadder, chained to the floor with two chains running through an iron ring around its neck. "That thing has killed three of my men so far," Alvin stated. "Do you think you can train it?"

"Nadders aren't that hard," Hiccup said off-handedly as he slid off the saddle. "First, you have to unchain it."

"Unchain that monster?" Savage was incredulous.

"I _said_ I want a free hand with the dragons!" Hiccup demanded. "Chaining them up makes them mad, and you can't train an angry dragon. Now unchain him!"

Alvin nodded to two of his crossbowmen, who hesitantly reached through the bars and pulled pins out of two of the floor links. The dragon leaped to its feet; the chains slid through the link in its collar until they fell free. It shook its head, raised its spikes, and glared at them.

"That's better," Hiccup nodded. "Now let me into the cage."

"Hiccup, are you _sure?_" Heather hissed. "That dragon is still mad!"

He patted her hand. "I'll be fine." He turned back to Alvin. "Now, do you guys want me to train that dragon, or don't you?"

"Either you're very brave or you're very stupid," Savage said. "Let's find out which." He opened a small door in the cage just long enough for Hiccup to slip inside, then slammed it shut.

The Nadder glared down at Hiccup through its left eye. He showed it his empty hands. "Hey, there, big guy! I'm your new friend!" The dragon responded by lashing its tail and sending a shower of spines straight at him. He'd expected that, and jumped to his left, which not only got him clear of the spines, but brought him into the dragon's blind spot.

"Some friend," he said out loud. "I have to move fast. Rub the neck, right there... yeah, you like that, don't you? I'll just rub you in that special place, right... _there!_" The dragon went limp and collapsed on the floor.

He wiped his hands on his vest. Ten Outcasts stared back at him with varying levels of shock and awe.

"Any questions?" he asked off-handedly.

"How did you _do_ that?" Savage asked.

"You wanted me to prove I could train dragons," Hiccup shot back. "I've proved it. Now let Heather and her family go."

"All right," Alvin rumbled. "We'll turn Heather and her parents loose right now. After all, now that I've got you, we don't need them any more. But I want both of you off that dragon! I don't want you taking off as soon as her parents are loose."

"Fair enough," Hiccup said.

As Heather dismounted, she whispered, "This wasn't part of the plan!"

"Be ready to move fast," he mouthed back. The procession moved into a series of tunnels, lined with barred cells on both sides. The four crossbowmen took the lead, followed by Heather, then Alvin and Savage, then Hiccup with Toothless behind him, then the other four guards.

They stopped. Heather looked around; she saw her mother and father sleeping in the cell next to them. Alvin turned to face Hiccup, with his back to Heather, and began to laugh. He made a hand signal, and the crossbowmen raised their weapons.

"Did you really think I was _that_ easy to fool?" he exclaimed. "I see how you two keep looking at each other. You're on the same team and you're planning to stay that way! But I'm not going to play your game. No, _you're_ going to play _my_ game!

"Heather, I've waited too long for you to deliver what you promised. You were a fool to come back at all! Now you get to choose who lives: the boy or your parents? Run to the ones you want to save! _NOW!_"

Heather's mouth fell open. Faced with that choice, she froze in place, unable to decide. That hesitation saved her life.

Alvin had assumed that she'd choose her parents. Without looking, he made two more hand signals to the guards behind him, and they turned and fired. If she had taken two steps toward her parents, their volley of bolts would have killed her.

Alvin heard the bolts strike the stone walls and saw the sparks they struck. He saw no body on the floor. "_What?_" he demanded.

Hiccup moved. He yelled, "Heather, get down! Toothless, _fight!_" as he threw himself flat. He'd seen what Toothless could do to Vikings back in the training ring on Monstrous Nightmare Day, so rather than give specific commands, he just turned the dragon loose to fight his own battle. The black dragon didn't disappoint him. A swipe of his tail took out all four of the guards' crossbows behind him. Then he leaped over Hiccup, spun, tail-slammed Savage into the wall, and pounded a powerful kick into Alvin's chest. The big Outcast flew through the air over a prostrate Heather and took out the other four guards, who were trying to reload their crossbows and unable to dodge. He finished by snarling at the first four, who ran in terror back the way they'd come.

"Toothless, open that door!" Hiccup shouted from the floor and pointed. A small purple fireball blasted the cell door into molten scrap metal. Heather's parents had just woken up from the commotion, stunned and unaware of what was going on. Heather dashed in and embraced them.

"We need to _move!_ Come on!" Hiccup shouted. He jumped back into Toothless' saddle and motioned for the others to ride behind him. Her parents were understandably hesitant about riding a dragon.

"It's okay!" Heather urged them. "I've done this lots of times!"

"Please, Mr. and Mrs. Ketilsson, we've got to get _out_ of here before more guards show up! I'll explain everything once we're safely in the air." They'd never used the word "safe" in the same sentence as "in the air," but they realized they were being rescued, and got themselves moving in the right direction.

"Hang onto each other, tight!" Hiccup called back. "Toothless, _go!_" The Night Fury snarled and galloped back the way they came. Two more guards tried to block their way, but a plasma blast at their feet sent them flying. Toothless had to flap hard to get off the ground with four passengers, but he made it. The Outcast catapults lobbed a few boulders at them, but Toothless dodged the rocks and they were soon out of range.

Once they were safely out over open sea, Hiccup introduced himself and his dragon, and Heather gave her parents a quick description of where she'd been and what she'd done since their captivity began.

"Young man, we owe you more thanks than we can give," they began. "We don't even know you, and yet you've saved us, you've taken good care of our little girl..."

"Oh, Mother, please!" Heather burst out. "I'm not so little anymore!"

"No," her father nodded. "No, you're not."

_That's a new tone of voice for him,_ she thought. _What did he __mean__ by that?_

"Our next stop is Berk," Hiccup told them. "We'll be there by sunrise. I expect you'll be treated a lot better on my island than on that one."

"That wouldn't be hard," Mr. Ketilsson commented. "We don't have much, but is there anything we can give you, to show how thankful we are?"

"Thank you, but no," Hiccup answered. "I did this because it was the right thing to do."

"Do you always put your life on the line for total strangers?" Mrs. Ketilsson asked.

"I kind of did it for Heather," Hiccup said. "She's... special."

Her heart leaped. Mentally she begged him to say more. But he lapsed into silence, and left her with nothing but questions about what "special" meant.


	8. Chapter 8

**Heather Together** Chapter 8

When they arrived at Berk, Mr. and Mrs. Ketilsson's first wish was for a decent breakfast, which they got. Their second wish was for a comfortable place to rest and reorganize themselves, so Stoick turned them over to Spitelout's wife, who managed the village's guest house. But before they parted company for the day, they had to tell Stoick everything about their rescue.

He questioned Heather about it later, to make sure he was getting all the facts. That night, when Hiccup was preparing to head upstairs, Stoick pulled his son aside. "That was quite an operation you pulled off last night," he said. "It took planning, fast thinking, and real courage. Where were the rest of your friends?"

"They didn't want to go," he answered.

Stoick scowled at that. "Well, I'm impressed, Hiccup. I can see that your killing that Red Death dragon wasn't a one-time fluke. You really _are_ a warrior, and you're quickly becoming a man." He took a deep breath. "It's time to think about the next big step in becoming a man, son."

"What's that, Dad? Learning to burp at the table?"

"No, your cousin Snotlout can teach you that any time. I'm talking about you taking a wife."

"A WIFE?" Hiccup's voice broke. "You mean, married? You mean... yikes! Dad, I'm not ready! I'm not old enough for that! Am I?"

"You're plenty old enough, by Viking standards," the chief explained. "All your friends are old enough; I'm surprised none of them have made an engagement yet. Back in my day, you'd all be married by now, and some of the girls would be getting round in the belly." Hiccup squirmed at that thought, but his father went on.

"Hiccup, I've probably told you this before, but I have to be sure you understand. As the only son of your village chief, you're going to be much sought-after by a lot of parents who are looking for the prestige, influence, and money that come with joining our family. Once word gets out that I'm wife-shopping for you, their daughters are going to line up to impress you. Luckily for you, _you_ don't have to decide which one to spend the rest of your life with. That's _my_ responsibility.

"It's my job to pick out a bride for you who will be the best for the tribe first, for our family line second, and for you third. Marrying for love is one of those modern ideas that you, as future chief of Berk, can't afford. You're welcome to fall in love _after_ you're married, if you think you should, but love can't be your _reason_ for marriage.

"I know you've been sweet on the Hofferson girl ever since you found out she was a girl. She wouldn't be a bad match – she has all the Viking virtues, and her family has an old and honorable line. I'd speak to Gunnarr Hofferson tomorrow, if your preference was all that mattered. In fact, I just might. But I have to consider the whole picture. I can _not_ promise you that you'll get the wife you want. You need to prepare yourself for that possibility.

"I'm not like some fathers who sit their sons down with no warning and say, 'Congratulations, you're engaged!' I'm giving you a little time to think about it before I make that decision. It won't change anything, but you'll be a little less stunned when I give you the news.

"Any questions, son?"

"Son?"

Hiccup shook himself. "Sorry, Dad. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this whole idea. I mean, I haven't even started growing a beard yet, and you're talking about me becoming somebody's husband! It might be somebody I don't even know! How can you... how can you get _that_ personal with a total stranger?"

"Hiccup... this kind of talking is hard for me," Stoick said softly. "The first time I met your mother was when her parents came to my father's house to show him the dowry. She was from another tribe on another island; I'd never seen her before in my life. She was _beautiful_... and she scared the daylights out of me! I don't think I managed to say two words to her, the entire hour she was there. She didn't try to talk to me, either. I thought she wanted nothing to do with me; maybe she even hated me. She told me later, she was just as scared as I was. You know we wound up very happy together, but we sure didn't start that way." He sighed at the memory.

"We Vikings have been doing it like this for generations. It always seems awkward and uncomfortable, but it results in peace treaties between warring tribes, strong alliances between families, and marriages that generally hold together for life. Romance is overrated; stability is what matters. Stability in the home, stability within the tribe, stability across all the tribes.

"I'll do the best I can for you, son. Just remember, if you don't get someone you would have chosen, it's your duty to go through with it anyway. Deal?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Deal. Oh, and Dad? This might be the best father-son talk we ever had."

"Really?" His father's face lit up. "Maybe I should get you engaged more often! Well, get some sleep, son. Tomorrow might be a busy day." Hiccup trudged up the steps to his room.

Marriage! Husband! Engagement! Wife! Stability! Duty! The words swirled endlessly in his head, unable to find a place to rest. _Get some sleep,_ he thought. _Sure, Dad, that's easy for you to say. All __you__ have to do is make a business deal. I'm the one who has to deal with the results for the rest of my life._

_I don't want to marry __anybody__ for a few years, but I guess that choice is off the menu._

_If I had to choose someone today, it would have to be Astrid. She's everything I've ever wanted. Even if she __is__ mad at me._

_If I couldn't have her... I just don't want to think about that._ He didn't sleep well that night.

He had trouble staying focused in the forge the next day. It wasn't that he was distracted on the inside. He kept getting distracted by the parade of girls who were stopping by the forge to watch him work. Girls who had never shown a shred of interest in metalwork were asking about what he was doing; girls who were barely on the edge of womanhood were staring shamelessly at him; and leading the pack was Ruffnut, who found excuses to visit several times during the day. Her intentions were obvious – even he couldn't miss the way she licked her lips every time he glanced up at her.

_Dad did __something__ this morning in the way of wife-hunting for me, and the word is out,_ he decided. News travels fast in a small town, but this was ridiculous.

The last straw was when Snotlout stopped by. "Hey, you lucky chick magnet!" He dropped his voice to a near-whisper. "If you don't want any of those babes who are throwing themselves at you, maybe you could point a couple of 'em in my direction? You know, put in a good word for your good old cousin Snotlout, and remind them of how handsome and available I am?"

"That _does_ it!" Hiccup shouted. "Gobber, as soon as I finish these lantern brackets, I am _done_ for the day! I've got some urgent business elsewhere." He finished his work as quickly as he could, put away his tools, and stalked off in search of his father. _What has he __done__ to me?_ he demanded mentally.

People in town watched him walk by with unusual interest. He overheard a lot of "tisk, tisk's" and "what a shame's" as he stormed around the village. He finally found his dad at home, which was an unusual place for him at that time of day.

"Son, sit down. There's something I have to tell you." He hadn't seen his father that sober-looking in a very long time. He sat down.

"I went to visit Gunnarr Hofferson this morning," he began. "I asked him if he would consider a marriage between you and his daughter."

"Hiccup, he... he refused us." Hiccup didn't hear most of the rest. His eyes went blurry and his ears were roaring. He heard something about how Astrid would rather run away from home than marry him, but the bulk of his father's words just didn't register.

_Astrid doesn't want me. I'm in love with her and she doesn't want me._

Stoick rested a huge hand on Hiccup's shoulder, startling him. "I'm sorry, son. I did the best I could for you. If you have a second choice, now would be a good time to tell me."

_What do I do now?_ Hiccup felt panic rising. _I'll have to marry someone who isn't Astrid! What do I do now?_

"Dad, I..." He couldn't even complete the sentence. "...I need some fresh air." He staggered to the door and stepped outside.

Someone was waiting for him there, gazing at him curiously. "Toothless! Buddy, do you know what? I need to go flying, and I need the wildest, craziest, scariest ride you can give me!" Hiccup sometimes wondered how well Toothless understood Old Norse, but there was no communication gap today. The dragon nearly threw Hiccup out of his saddle twice. His riding straps actually stretched, to the point that he had to replace them the next day. By the time they were done, Hiccup had been spun, plunged, and flung around so violently that he had no appetite for supper. It actually made him feel a little better, somehow.

He headed for the Mead Hall as the rest of the village was leaving. He had to find Astrid. He had to talk to her.

He didn't find her there; apparently she'd eaten early and already left. He did bump into his other friends, though. Fishlegs had the decency to keep quiet, and Snotlout could only think of himself. Leave it to Tuffnut to twist the dagger in his heart.

"Hey, not-lover-boy! For the first time in Viking history, a chief's son got rejected! How does it feel to be in the record books?" Ruff pushed her twin brother's helmet down over his eyes, more out of habit than anything else; her real goal was to catch Hiccup's eye. He just turned sadly and walked away.

If Astrid had eaten early, that could only mean she wanted extra time to fling her weapons around in the woods; he knew her well enough to be sure of that. He also knew where in the woods she could probably be found.

She was making no attempt to hide. Her loud battle cries alternated with the "whack" of her axe sinking into tree trunks. She had just pulled it out when she saw him walking towards her. She pointedly turned her back on him.

"Hi, Astrid." She didn't reply.

"Uhhh... can we talk for a minute?"

She held up her weapon without looking at him. "Talk to the axe, because I'm not listening."

"Astrid, please! This is important! We _need_ to talk!"

"I am _not_ listening to _anything_ you have to say!"

"Why are you _doing_ this?" he begged. "I know I'm not the manliest Viking there ever was, but... please tell me why! Ever since we were kids, you were the only one I ever wanted!"

She turned and stalked toward him, her anger visibly rising. "You want to know why? Okay, I'll _tell_ you why!" She backed him up until he was caught between her and a large tree. "Ever since _I_ was a kid, the only thing _I_ ever wanted was to place first in Dragon Training! That was my dream. And _you_ took it from me! You didn't even want it for yourself – you just took it away from me! So do you know what?"

She stuck her face right into his and hissed, "_Neither_ of us is going to get what we really want! You broke my dream, so I'm breaking yours!"

She backed off and turned away, arms folded. "_That_ is my final answer. Take your fancy bride-price, and go buy off some other chicklet who loves your father's money. It sounds like there's plenty of them to choose from. But you are _never_ laying a finger on me. Got that?"

"Astrid, the money has nothing to do with it! Please, let me try to –"

She whirled to face him once more, her face a seething mask of rage. "Am I not speaking clearly? Which part of 'no' don't you understand? Nein, nyet, non, manapuni! It means _NO!_" She turned and ran deeper into the forest before he could utter another word.

Just like that, he was alone.

**o**

He found himself on the docks, watching the dark waves kick up spray against the lighthouse rocks as the sun dipped below the horizon. He wasn't sure how he got there; he must have been wandering aimlessly for some time. The harbor was deserted, except for the night harbor-master, who left him alone. That was a good thing. He felt a black, aching void inside, almost as bad as the day his mother died, and he didn't want anyone around. "Alone" was how he'd always dealt with life's harsh blows.

When he heard someone walking slowly down the docks toward him, he didn't even look to see who it was. He just kept staring out to sea. Whoever it was, he or she stopped just behind him and said nothing for a minute.

"You really must be hurting," she finally said.

"Heather, would you mind leaving me alone for a few more minutes?"

"Do you really _want_ to be alone, or is that just what you're accustomed to?"

He turned to face her. Hers was the first female face he'd seen all day that wasn't either predatory or full of pity. She really looked concerned for him. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked softly.

He shook his head and started to turn away again. She rested a hand on his shoulder for just a moment, then withdrew it. But her touch sparked something inside him. He faced her for the time it took to draw a breath, then flung his arms around her and clung to her as though he might die if he let go.

She returned the embrace. He'd never held anyone this tightly before. _I am not going to cry,_ he told himself. _I am not going to cry_. He was shaking, and he knew she could feel it.

"If you need to cry, it's okay," she whispered. "I understand."

He didn't cry, not out loud, not really. But he wet her shoulder with silent tears, and a few loud sobs did escape him. She made no attempt to end the embrace until he finally let her go. Even then, she took his hands in hers and didn't let him walk away.

"If you need me for anything, you know where I'm staying," she said earnestly. "Anything at all. Your heart is safe with me. I hope you know that."

"Thanks, Heather. I appreciate that."

"I'll always be there for you if you want me, Hiccup," she whispered. "Always." Then she dropped his hands and walked back to the ramps that led up to the village.

He stared after her. The aching black void inside him was being filled with thoughts he'd never considered before. He had to talk about this with someone.

He didn't have the slightest idea who.

Then he _did_ know who. But it might turn out to be the most awkward conversation he'd ever had.

**o**

A/N _"Nein, nyet, non" mean "no" in modern German, Russian, and French, all languages that the Vikings would have encountered, if those languages had existed at that time. "Manapuni" means "absolutely never" in Quechua, a South American language that no Viking __ever__ heard._


	9. Chapter 9

**Heather Together** Chapter 9

Heather was waiting for him to go riding with Toothless next morning, the way she usually did. Neither of them said anything about last night. He didn't feel talkative at all as they flew. Even Toothless seemed to sense the difference in his rider; several times, he looked back at Hiccup and made noises that sounded like some kind of question.

"You have to do a lot of back-and-forth work on his foot pedals, don't you?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"Do you ever go on flights where you set the pedals and leave them that way for a while?" she wondered.

"Sometimes."

"I was thinking," she said. "If you put a thumbscrew right into that bracket, you could set the pedal, tighten the screw, and his tail would stay where it was until you loosened the screw. It could keep your legs from getting so tired on long flights."

He shrugged. "That's not a bad idea."

After they landed and fed Toothless his breakfast, they went their separate ways. He went somewhere he didn't go very often – the town's butcher shop. He waited outside until there were no customers, which meant Gunnarr Hofferson had the shop to himself. He braced himself and walked in, hoping his nervousness wasn't too obvious.

"Sir, can I talk to you about something?"

The Hoffersons liked Hiccup. Gunnarr was somewhat torn by recent events, but he loved his daughter too much to make her miserable. "Hiccup, your father spoke to me yesterday. I gave him my answer, and that answer isn't going to change. There's nothing for us to talk about."

"That's not why I'm here, sir." Hiccup felt embarrassed. "This is something different. It's the kind of thing I'd ask my mother about, if she were alive. I'd ask my dad, but he's not really good at talking about this kind of stuff. You and your wife are kind of a second set of parents to me, and... I was wondering..." He took a deep breath. "How do you know if you love someone? I mean, _really_ love them?"

Gunnarr didn't see _that_ one coming.

"The bards and minstrels have been going back and forth on that question since the beginning of time, Hiccup. Do you really think a simple butcher can give you a good answer?"

Hiccup shrugged. "All I know is, some people get married, and they have nothing in common except their house and their kids. You and your wife have been married for years, and you still hold hands when you're walking together. Maybe you can't give me a perfect answer, but you must know _something_ about it."

Gunnarr looked thoughtful. "You've worked in the forge for years. When you first light a fire, what is it like?"

Hiccup had no problem answering that one. "It flames up, it snaps and pops, and it throws sparks all over the place. But it's not hot enough to work with. You have to wait until it burns down to the coals, and then you can do something useful with it."

Gunnarr nodded. "When you first fall in love, it's like that fire that's just been lit. It's very exciting, it looks and sounds impressive, but it can't do much for you, except inspire bad love poems. Real love is like a fire of coals; it doesn't look like much or sound like much, but it throws off a lot more heat.

"Our marriage was arranged for us, just like everyone else's. Edda came from another island; I never even met her until our wedding day. My father had to point her out and say, 'That's your wife, son.' Things were very awkward and uncomfortable at the start, and it seemed like they would stay that way for the rest of our lives.

"About six years into our marriage, after she'd given us our first son, she fell ill with a fever. She felt like she was burning up; she was dry and hot to the touch. Gothi wouldn't offer me any hope. I even offered sacrifices to the gods, but they wouldn't listen. I just sat next to her, holding her hand and watching her fade away, and there was not one thing I could do about it. I'd never felt so helpless in all my life.

"Finally, she turned the corner and began to get better. I'll admit, that was as close as this rough, tough Viking ever got to crying. I realized that, somehow, her life had gotten tangled up with mine, and my life just wouldn't be worth living if she wasn't in it.

"To me, that's love. It's not the crazy feelings and romantic poems and shooting stars lighting up the night. Those are nice, but they never last very long. To me, love is being completely tied up in someone else's life. You'd do anything for their benefit, no matter what it costs you. You'd never even consider anyone else, no matter what they might offer you. Sometimes you have moments with those crazy feelings, but the feelings are just the spices on top of the meat. Spices taste good, but they don't fill you up, and they weren't meant to be eaten all by themselves. Meat tastes pretty good, even without the spices, and it's a lot more filling.

"Does that help?"

"Yes, sir, it helps a lot. Thank you." Hiccup left the shop in a very thoughtful mood.

_If what he says is true, then I'm not sure I really love Astrid. I know she doesn't love me._

Then he thought of Heather's words last night. "I'll always be there for you, Hiccup."

That was no lie. When he'd needed a trustworthy wingman for his fight with the Red Death, she'd come through for him. When he'd been unconscious for weeks on end, she'd stayed there beside him. When he'd needed companionship and comfort last night, she'd sought him out and given him what he needed most. "Your heart is safe with me," she'd said.

When Alvin had made her choose between him and her parents, she couldn't decide.

_If what Mr. Hofferson says is true, then that probably means... Heather loves me,_ he realized. That shook him to the core. Somehow, he'd won her heart, without even trying to, and with no idea how he'd done it.

What was he going to do about that?

Heather was very pretty, but the town was full of pretty girls. She was smart and clever – he'd have to try her suggestion about the thumbscrew in the bracket. She had inner strength, though probably not as much as Astrid. She was kind, gentle, and sensitive, traits that Astrid certainly lacked.

_She loved him_.

Shouldn't that be worth a lot more than pretty faces and family prestige? All those other girls were pursuing him for what they could _get_; Heather was more concerned with what she could _give_.

He recalled Astrid's words – "_Neither_ of us is going to get what we really want!"

_Maybe not,_ he decided firmly, _but I know somebody who's going to get what she really wants._

He spent the day in the forge, ignoring the parade of girls who dropped by to look him over. He used his few spare minutes to try out Heather's thumbscrew idea; it worked perfectly. He also made a start on another project.

That night, he caught his father doing some wood carving. "Got a few minutes to talk, Dad?"

Stoick put down his tools. "Sure, son. What's on your mind?"

"Has Berk ever had an alliance with Fedje Island?"

"Fedje?" The chief looked thoughtful. "No, I don't think so. We exchanged raids with them once or twice in my grandfather's time, but we haven't had much contact with them since then. Why do you ask?"

"The Ketilssons told me they're from Fedje, Dad."

Stoick let a ghost of a grin play around the corners of his mouth. "Oh, _did_ they, then?" He nodded and stroked his beard. "Well, you could do worse. She's strong and healthy, she's brave, her family has a good name... hmmm. Yes, you could do much worse. I think her parents might agree to an alliance with Berk's future chief.

"The only problem is that they may not be able to raise a dowry that's fit for a future chief."

"Does it always come down to money?" Hiccup sputtered. "I know I'm not supposed to marry for love, but I hate feeling like I'm being bought and sold! You agree she's a nice girl; so what if she isn't rich? How much does that really matter?"

"Son, the conditions for a marriage contract are ancient traditions that even a chief can't set aside. There's always room for some negotiating, but if chiefs start giving their sons away in exchange for five turnips and a lame goat, pretty soon, being a chief won't mean anything. We have those traditions for a reason, even if we don't know what it is, and we can't pick and choose which ones we're going to obey.

"That's another thing, son. Two days ago, you thought you were too young for marriage; now you're trying to rush me into making a decision. Are you that much older today, Hiccup?"

"Dad, I've seen how things work," Hiccup said with a trace of urgency. "If you keep putting off an important decision, eventually something _forces_ you to decide, and when that happens, you never get what you want. I wish you could have been with me in the forge, and seen all those girls lining up to stare at me... Now I know how a fish feels when it's surrounded by hungry dragons!

"If I can't delay getting married, then I want you to make the decision while I can still say something about it. Otherwise, I'll probably wind up with a wife with a nice dowry and not much else."

Stoick smiled. "You're right about putting off important decisions, and I'm glad you've learned that lesson already. Too many chiefs take too long to make up their minds about things, and their villages suffer for it. It's good to know you won't be one of those.

"As for the Ketilsson girl... are you sweet on that one, too?"

"Not really, Dad, but I think she's sweet on me. If I can't get Astrid, and we just have to pick somebody... why should Heather's heart get broken too?"

Stoick looked surprised. "That's quite noble of you, son. I think you know more about duty and responsibility than I realized. Well, let me think it over. It's too late to say anything to them tonight anyway. Get some sleep; we'll see what happens."

Hiccup actually did sleep well that night. The next day, he waited for Heather to appear so they could ride Toothless together. Oddly, she didn't show. The dragon was getting restless, so Hiccup flew without her. He attended to Toothless' breakfast, then his own; then he headed for the forge. He got there early enough to finish that other project of his: a "back seat" extension to Toothless' saddle, with a matching riding belt, so he could take a passenger for a ride in complete safety.

Halfway through the morning, the cloud of admiring girls scattered. In their place, Stoick approached the window of the forge and beckoned for Hiccup to join him. He looked as though he was trying to hide his gloomy expression behind his beard.

"Son... she's gone."


	10. Chapter 10

**Heather Together** Chapter 10

"What do you mean, she's gone?" Hiccup felt a wave of panic.

"She and her family sailed for home last night. Apparently they left without telling anyone."

The black aching emptiness returned. He fought back against it.

"Dad, I couldn't get my first choice for a wife. I am _not_ losing this one! And Dad... if we can't work out some way around the dowry problem, then I'll... I'll..." He threw up his hands. "_I'll __do__ something!_"

Stoick started to remind Hiccup who was the father and who was the son around here, but he bit his words off before he spoke them. There was steel in Hiccup's expression. He remembered Gobber's words on a far-distant battlefield – "Every bit the bull-headed, stubborn Viking you ever were!" He realized that his son was, indeed, becoming a man, and the days when he could be ordered around were just about over.

He laid his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Let's go home and talk about this, son. Man to man."

**o**

The winds were setting out of the west-southwest, which was perfect from Mr. and Mrs. Ketilsson's point of view. Their ship could run with the wind almost all the way home; they'd probably make it in six days instead of the normal seven. They were halfway there already. It would be good to be home again, especially after all the misadventures they'd had.

Heather stood in the bow of the ship, silent and motionless, staring out to sea at nothing. She'd been that way ever since they'd gone on board.

Her parents conferred quietly in the stern of the ship, and decided it was time for her mother to talk to her. She strode forward, trying to keep her footfalls quiet. Mother and daughter stood side by side for a moment.

"Heather, you're not yourself," Mrs. Ketilsson began. "Ever since we left that island, you've been very quiet. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Mother."

"Are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine, Mother, honest."

Her father joined them. "Did you leave something behind on that island?"

"No, Father, I didn't leave any_thing_ behind."

Mrs. Ketilsson was a perceptive woman. "Heather... did you leave some_body_ behind?"

After a long pause, she looked at the deck and nodded her head.

"You mean that boy who rescued us?" She nodded again. "Heather, he's the son of their _chief!_ He could have any girl he wants, from any family he wants; he wouldn't look twice at a family like ours. Even if he did, we'd have to borrow money from every relative we've got, just to raise a proper dowry. It just wasn't meant to be, honey. Can you see that?"

Her eyes welled up. "Mother, you didn't even let me say goodbye! He saved me, he risked his life to save both of you... and you _didn't even let me say goodbye!_"

"We never had any ties to Berk, honey. You know we're never going back there; we have no reason to. If we were starting to form some ties, it was best to just cut them off. Do you understand?"

Heather shook her head miserably. After a few more moments of awkward silence, her parents retreated to the stern of the ship.

"When that boy rescued us on his dragon, I said she wasn't so little anymore, and that's the truth. She needs a husband, sooner and not later," Mr. Ketilsson said. His wife nodded. He continued. "I meant to tell you, before we left on this trip, I got a tentative offer from a merchant on Kelso Island. His second son, a young man named Bergsveinn, is ready to marry. He sounds like a fine young man – wealthy, successful, handy with a sword. I think he could be good for our daughter."

The captain interrupted them. "Ladies, gentlemen, this is your cruise director, and we've got trouble. Something is flying towards us from dead astern, and I don't think it's a seagull. Break out those spears amidships! We're about to have a dragon attack!" The other two sailors passed out spears to everyone on board, including Heather, who took her spear listlessly. They watched as the ominous shape grew larger.

"That's Toothless!" Heather exclaimed suddenly. Impossible hope began rising inside her.

"I don't care if it has teeth or not, it's still a dragon," one of the sailors muttered.

"No, that's Hiccup's dragon!" she corrected him.

"A toothless dragon with hiccups? What kind of la-la land are you _from_, lady?" By the time she got them all to understand, the dragon was nearly upon them. They could plainly see its human rider now, so they set their spears down on the deck and waited.

The dragon glided straight up behind them silently, without flapping once. As it passed over at masthead height, the rider reached out and dropped something. It landed on the deck amidships and hit with a thud. It was a thick sheet of copper, cut into the shape of a heart and polished to shiny brilliance. There was a rolled-up sheet of paper tied to it with a piece of red string. The sailor who had mocked Heather about the dragon grabbed it, glanced at it, buffed his fingerprints off it with the edge of his shirt, then strode to the bow and handed it to her.

"I think this must be for you," he said politely, and stepped back.

She unrolled the paper with shaking hands, and held her breath as she read it. It didn't take long to read.

_Heather,  
Will you marry me?  
My father approves.  
Hiccup_

She read it three times, just to make sure she hadn't misunderstood it somehow.

Hiccup looked back over his shoulder as Toothless passed over the ship. It was easy to tell which one was Heather at this height, and he could see that she had gotten the note. But she wasn't _doing_ anything! Was she making up her mind? Was she having second thoughts? Had he read the whole situation wrong?

Slowly, she turned and walked aft. Her dignified composure lasted about two steps; then she broke into a run, waving the paper over her head and screaming, "FATHER! FATHER, _LOOK!_" Her father had a hard time getting the note out of her hands so he could read it. He stared at it for a few seconds, then passed it to his wife without a word. She read it, smiled, looked up, and waved him down.

"What do you think, bud?" he asked. "Can you land on that little ship without tipping it over?" Toothless snorted and growled, offended that Hiccup might question his abilities. They turned into the wind, and nearly hovered as the ship came right at them.

Toothless landed neatly, as close to the middle of the ship as the mast allowed. It settled deeper in the water under his weight, but not dangerously so. Hiccup unclipped his riding harness, slid off the saddle... and was nearly tackled to the deck when Heather threw herself at him. They both would have gone down if Toothless hadn't extended a wing and caught them.

"Can I take that as a 'yes'?" Hiccup asked, smiling broadly.

"You came back for me!" she sobbed into his shoulder. "I am not going to cry, I am _not_ going to cry... well, maybe a little."

"I'm sorry it took me so long," he answered softly. "One of our big ships lost its anchor, and it took me two and a half days to forge a new one. They wouldn't let me go until it was done. I came as quickly as I could."

"Yes," she sniffled. "The answer is yes! It always was. All you had to do was ask."

Now Mr. and Mrs. Ketilsson joined them. "That's quite the romantic approach you've got, Hiccup," she smiled. "Delivering your heart and your proposal by dragon!"

"Is this a serious offer, young man?" he asked.

"I wouldn't joke about something like this, sir," Hiccup replied. "My father's message to you is that, if this match is acceptable, I'll fly him to your village, and you'll work out the terms with him there."

Mr. Ketilsson glanced at Heather, who was still clinging to Hiccup, and nodded. "I think the match had _better_ be acceptable, or my daughter might disown me. There may be problems with some parts of the contract, though."

Hiccup smiled. "I'm also authorized to tell you that my father will match your dowry, copper for copper if he has to, to make it big enough to meet people's expectations."

Heather's mother gasped. "That's an _extraordinary_ offer!" she exclaimed. "Dear, I think this Bergsveinn is going to have to find someone else."

"It does sound that way," her father nodded. "A future chief in our family..."

"Your father will do that... for us?" Heather almost couldn't believe it.

"He feels strongly that Berk needs an alliance with Fedje," Hiccup explained, then dropped his voice to a whisper. "And _I_ feel strongly that _you_ need an alliance with _me_."

He embraced her, and they clung to each other until everyone but Toothless looked away in embarrassment. Toothless crooned and gazed at them with his wide-eyed look. Apparently, _he_ found the match acceptable, too.


	11. Chapter 11

**Heather Together** Chapter 11

For Hiccup to disappear on his dragon for the better part of a day was not unusual. For him to take his _father_ away on dragonback... well, that had never been done before. Stoick offered no explanations; he just left Spitelout in charge for the day, flew away with his son early in the morning, and came back just before sunset, when the weekly town meeting was getting started.

He led things as he always did, calling people to speak as needed, summing up reports that were too long, generally doing the things chiefs do at town meetings. It didn't take very long tonight, which suited everyone – no one likes meetings except managers, and the Vikings never invented managers, so they _really_ hated meetings. But he had one announcement just before he dismissed everyone.

"There's one more thing! I am pleased to announce the successful conclusion of a very special contract," he beamed. The fishermen assumed he was talking about a wool contract, and the sheep owners thought he was talking about some kind of deal for fish. Their wives thought they knew what he meant, but had no idea who might be involved.

"As a result of this contract, I can announce that Miss Heather Ketilsson, who recently visited us from Fedje Island, is now... officially... _engaged_ to be married to my son, Hiccup!" A scattering of surprised applause finally grew into a full ovation with cheers, as much out of respect for the chief as out of happiness for his son. It was certainly an upbeat ending to the meeting. Hiccup wanted to hide under the table.

People's reactions to Hiccup's engagement were wildly varied. The politically-inclined Vikings saw the wisdom in establishing a new alliance with a formerly hostile island... unless they had daughters of marriageable age, in which case Heather should drop dead. The tradesmen liked the idea of possible new trading partnerships with Fedje, regardless of how the marriage worked out. The majority of the women liked her and approved of her; she'd made a good impression in the short amount of time she'd lived on Berk.

Ruffnut's immediate reaction cannot be reprinted in a story with K-rated language.

Snotlout was rather pleased by this turn of events. "I have to hand it to you, cousin," he told Hiccup one day. "Not only did you pick a pretty good one for yourself, you also got yourself out of the way so I can hunt down Astrid with no competition. Not that you could ever compete with me, of course. Still, it was a nice two-for-one move."

"Think nothing of it," Hiccup smiled.

"Okay, I won't," Snotlout grinned.

Fishlegs was a bit mystified by it all. "I thought Astrid was the only one for you, Hiccup. Why did you change your mind?"

"I guess Astrid wasn't who I thought she was," Hiccup answered slowly. It was a sore subject. He hadn't seen much of Astrid since his engagement was announced, and he couldn't swear an oath that he had no more feelings for her. He didn't _want_ to be drawn to Astrid any more; he'd made his decision, and he wanted that to be the end of it. But he knew how stubborn the human heart can be. He wasn't sure if his fiancée's victory over his lifelong crush was complete, and he didn't want to find out, just in case he was still drawn in two directions at once. That wouldn't be fair to Heather.

Tuffnut, true to form, went straight to the heart of the issue as he saw it. "Isn't it weird to think you and her are going to do that whole 'marriage' thing in front of the whole village on your wedding night?"

Hiccup didn't dignify that with a response. He was honestly dreading that part of the marriage ceremony. As a chief's son, the consummation of his marriage had to be viewed by reliable witnesses; it was tradition and it was the law. He doubted that Heather was looking forward to it, either.

But, like any other issue involving engagement or marriage, he couldn't talk to her about it. To prevent scandal, engaged couples in Viking culture were forbidden to spend time alone together. In Hiccup and Heather's case, this wasn't hard to arrange, because Heather was going to spend the rest of her unmarried life with her family on Fedje. She would relocate to Berk only when it was time for the wedding, which was months away.

To most men, the seven-day trip by sea from Berk to Fedje (and the seven-day return trip) would be far too great an obstacle to overcome. No one could take that kind of time off from his work and his daily chores. But Hiccup was not like most men; he rode a dragon who could take him from his home to his fiancée's home and back in a few hours. The only thing that held him back was a firm order from his father not to meet with Heather or talk with her in any way before he married her.

He obeyed that order... technically. But love will find a way. Hiccup's way was to invent air mail. His father's order did not keep him and Toothless from flying to Fedje, dropping a weighted note in Heather's back yard, and flying home again. Nor did it keep them from flying to Fedje a week later, swooping down to pick up a note that she'd hung on a string between two trees, and flying home again. They avoided passionate outpourings of their feelings, in case someone else found their notes; instead, they speculated about their future, and told each other about their respective pasts. It wasn't the same as sitting and talking, but it was far better than being completely cut off from each other. Her idea about the thumbscrew in Toothless' harness was perfect for those long flights over water. If Stoick ever suspected what was going on, he never mentioned it to Hiccup.

It wasn't as if Hiccup had huge amounts of time on his hands to go flying, though. In addition to his work in the forge and his dragon-training responsibilities, he had to do the man's traditional work to prepare for marriage. Most importantly, he had to build a house for himself and his bride. In his case, that mostly meant watching his father's hired men build the house, while staying out of their way so he didn't break anything. His only real contribution was to point out that the doors needed to be wider than usual, so a certain black scaly friend of his could get in and out.

He had to come up with two excellent swords for the wedding ceremony, one for him and one for his bride (the Ketilssons had no access to swords, so he agreed to meet that need for them). Most men would have to visit a faraway relative, or even rob a family grave, to get swords of that quality, but here again, Hiccup was in a better position than most men – he could make them himself. He wouldn't let anyone see them as his work progressed, but no one doubted that they would be something special. He also undertook to make their wedding rings.

He had to endure hours of teaching from his father and other relations, poorly disguised as long-dead ancestors, about his family line, famous Vikings, and other arcane lore from the distant past. When he had the audacity to ask why he needed to know all this, he was told, "So you can pass it on to your own son someday." When he asked why his son would need to know it, he was told to sit down and recite it all. He'd kind of suspected this would be the case, and went along with it because it was easier than fighting it.

When he complained about all this in his next note to Heather, she wrote back with a list of the things _she_ was enduring in the name of engagement. She was undergoing crash courses in the domestic arts that she never much cared for in the past. In a few months, there would be no one but her to cook the food, clean the house, treat minor sicknesses and injuries, and mend and wash the clothes. She'd had no idea how much work her mother did around the house until she had to learn how to do it all herself. As a future chief's wife, she would be involved in the record-keeping of the village, so she also had to endure lessons in penmanship to make sure her writing was perfect and legible.

In addition, she thought it would be a good idea to learn some kind of womanly art, so an older cousin was teaching her about quilting. Berk, like Fedje, was almost always cold; everyone needed warm bedclothes, so a well-made quilt would be a much-appreciated gift for any occasion. Also, as the wife of the chief, her house would be a sort of social center for the women of the village, and making quilts was something they all could do together for a few hours. It certainly made more sense to her than learning about hooking rugs or growing flowers.

Her married female relatives were beginning her instruction in how to keep her husband happy and her household peaceful. At this point, this meant only broad principles with no details, but they still made it very clear that it was her job to please her husband, not the other way around. She'd get an earful of the details on their wedding day. "What's the use of that?" she asked in her newly-perfect penmanship. "If I'm supposed to remember all these important things, couldn't they pick a better day to teach me than the busiest, most intense day of my life?"

She, too, had to memorize chunks of antiquated text. For her, it wasn't genealogies, but parts of the wedding and reception that she would have to parrot back, word-perfect, in front of all their guests. He had to agree, that was at least as bad as his rote lessons.

"The long and the short of it," he replied in his next note, "is that they want us to get married, but for some reason, they make it as difficult as they can. Sometimes I want to just swoop down on Toothless, grab you, and carry you off to parts unknown."

"Don't tempt me," she eventually replied.

He'd gone into this relationship more for her sake than for his. He knew he had to marry somebody, so if it couldn't be the one he wanted, it might as well be someone who really wanted _him_. He knew what heartbreak felt like; he didn't want to do that to someone else, especially to someone as kind as Heather. But somewhere along the way, he found himself looking forward to her next note a lot more than he thought he would, and he realized he was developing some feelings for her as well.

He didn't feel bad about that at all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Heather Together** Chapter 12

While Hiccup and Heather were working out their long-distance engagement, what had become of Astrid? Hiccup very seldom saw her, more from his own busyness than from any evasiveness on her part. Almost no one knew it, but she was having second thoughts about him.

Some of that regret might have been growing horror at the realization that, once she crossed Hiccup off her list, her remaining options were even less appealing. Fishlegs and Tuffnut were long shots for the position; their families were lacking in social status, even compared to hers. Barring someone from another island, that left Snotlout. And he knew it. Oh, did he ever know it.

One afternoon, Hiccup was hammering out rims for shields when he realized he wasn't alone. He glanced over his shoulder and found Astrid standing in the doorway of his tiny back room, looking very embarrassed.

"Uhhh, hi, Astrid! What brings you, uhhh..."

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" she hissed. More softly, she added, "This is the only place I can hide where Snotlout won't come looking for me."

Hiccup set his work down nervously. "I sympathize, but you can't stay here! I'm an engaged man now! If anybody came in here and found us alone together, it would be really bad for both of us."

"Hiccup, I'll chance that! I'm so _sick_ of his leering face and his awful suggestions! If I'd had any idea..."

"Astrid, I'm sorry, but I _can't_ chance it. It's not just me that's affected; there's someone else involved, who doesn't deserve to have her heart broken. I can't play by our old rules any more. Gobber! Can you come back here for a minute?" By the time the smith got to the back of the forge, Astrid had slipped away.

She went straight home, stormed upstairs, slammed her door, flopped down on her bed, cried into her pillow, and when her mother called up and asked what was wrong, sobbed, "Nothing!"

"Another typical day with a teen-aged daughter," her father muttered.

She felt a bit more talkative later that night. Her father was outside, showing her two younger brothers how to recognize stars and constellations on a rare cloudless night. "Mama, what if you do something that you really think is right, and then later on, you find out it was a big mistake?"

"You learn from it, and you move on from where you are," Edda Hofferson replied. "Most times, you can't undo what's been done. The best you can do is try not to make the same mistake again." She didn't put the real question into words – _what did you do?_

"But how do you know in advance how things are going to turn out?"

"Astrid, I can't be much help if I don't know what you're talking about."

Astrid wrung her hands, wriggled nervously in her seat, and finally muttered, "Hcp."

"What, dear?"

"Hiccup! I was wrong about Hiccup! He... he's not a prince from a fairy story, but he's a nice guy, and he's a lot better than my other choices, and... and I was wrong about him, and now he's engaged to someone else, and... oh, I was so _stupid, stupid, stupid!_" Her mother comforted her with a hand on her shoulder, which didn't go very far because of her metal shoulder pads.

"There's one thing for sure, Astrid. You can't go back and undo this one. He's taken and sworn for, and you have to leave him strictly alone. Even a _hint_ of doing something you shouldn't, could ruin both his reputation and yours. When kinsmen get outraged by damaged reputations during an engagement, people _die_. Your father and I have both seen it happen."

Astrid went a bit pale at that. "I thought those were just scary tales to make us be good."

Her mother shook her head. "A maiden's honor is a reflection of her family's honor. If anyone thought Hiccup was playing games with your honor, our whole family would come down on him with weapons drawn and no mercy. Your Uncle Thorn would lead the charge – you know he would. And if Hiccup's family thought you were playing footsie with him, Spitelout would part your hair with that axe of his. Permanently."

She nodded numbly. "No time alone with Hiccup. Got it. But... how do I keep from doing the same thing again?"

"Did Hiccup approach you about marriage?" her mother asked. Astrid nodded.

"Did you reject him?" She nodded again.

"Then that's an easy one. The next time a nice boy approaches you about marriage, don't reject him."

"But, Mama... I was mad at him!"

"Then I hope the pleasure you got from being mad at him was worth the pain of losing him," Edda said firmly. "I've told you many times, you and that temper of yours are going to come to grief some day, and here you are."

"Is that all the sympathy you have to offer me?" Astrid begged.

"If someone else broke your heart, I'd have all the sympathy in the world," her mother replied, "but when you've stabbed yourself in the foot after being warned, this is all you get. Some mistakes can't be undone. Learn from it and don't do it again – that's all I can tell you. And stay away from that boy."

"You have no compassion at all!"

"If I have too much compassion, that softens the blow and you don't learn from it," her mother said as she picked up her sewing again. "This is one blow that you really need to learn from. Once you've gotten the message, come back and tell me what it is. I'll save the compassion for then. Don't worry; I'll have plenty."

There was a long pause.

"Mama... is Dad going to make me marry Snotlout?" Her voice quavered when she asked that one.

"We all know the sagas where the girl's wishes are ignored, and how badly those marriages always end. We won't force you to marry against your will. You should know that – we already turned away the son of the chief just because you said so. I can ask my relatives on other islands to look for a suitable husband for you, or your father can take you to the Thing the next time it meets. But you've got to stop rejecting every boy who approaches you!"

Astrid felt miserable, but she was determined to salvage something from the situation. "When they're looking on those other islands... can they look for someone like Hiccup?"

"Dear, I don't think there _are_ any others like Hiccup."


	13. Chapter 13

**Heather Together** Chapter 13

The light from the full moon cast sharp shadows across the cove. The sounds of trickling water mixed with the song of the crickets to make a completely relaxing environment. Anyone would love to spend time here and relax, but for Hiccup, this would always be his special place. After all, this was where he'd befriended Toothless.

Tonight would be doubly special. He'd just returned from Fedje with a note from Heather. This would be the last such note, for tomorrow, she and her family would board a ship for the week-long voyage to Berk. When she arrived, it would be time for their wedding. After that, they wouldn't have to write notes to each other any more.

He knew better than to try and read her notes on the flight home; it was much too windy. He'd tried it the first time and nearly lost the note. Waiting until he got home was hard, but this engagement was teaching him a lot about waiting and being patient. Tonight, all his other responsibilities were taken care of, Toothless was relaxing by the water, and he could lean back against his dragon friend and read her note by moonlight with no distractions or interruptions.

"My dearest love, my Hiccup,

"As you've probably guessed, this will be the last note I will write to you. It's been hard to be away from you all these months when I wanted to spend time with you and get to know you better, but the rules are the rules. In just a week, I'll be stepping off my boat onto Berk, which will be my home for the rest of my life, and then... our wedding! I wish I could tell you how much I can't wait!

"I'm glad to hear that our house is ready at last. "Our house" – that sounds so strange and wonderful! Thank you for asking about my favorite color; would I be right if I guessed that you painted our house green?"

_No, _he thought. _I couldn't arrange that in time, but our curtains and tablecloth are green. Maybe we'll paint the house together later._

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about some of the things that are going to happen. All those silly wedding traditions! Who came up with that stuff, anyway? I'd love to meet the guy who decided I need to have a hammer laid in my lap so Thor will approve of my babies. I'd like to take the hammer and whack that guy in the head, so Thor will approve of his brain. But if he's a typical Viking man, he'd never even feel it.

"Of course, that insult isn't aimed at you, my sweet, because you aren't a typical Viking man. That's one of the things that drew me to you. Even these notes are proof that you aren't like all the others. Who else could have thought of a way to obey the rules and still let us talk to each other?

"Even though I haven't seen you in months (unless you count me looking out the window to watch you and Toothless fly by), I feel like my love for you gets deeper every day. Yes, I know we agreed not to get too emotional in these notes. But this is the last one, and if anyone finds it, what are they going to do about it – cancel the wedding? Not likely! Our time is almost here, and I'm so excited! There are so many things I can't wait to see happen!

"I can't wait to be the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning.

"I can't wait to cook for you, and learn the things you like to eat so I can make them for you.

"I can't wait to make our home into a place that reflects both of us.

"I can't wait to walk down the streets of my new home town, holding your hand so everyone knows I belong to you (and you belong to me!).

"I can't wait to sit next to you and talk about whatever we want, with no one telling us we can't spend time together.

"I can't wait to look in your wonderful green eyes and tell you I love you, and show you how much, instead of just writing about it.

"I have only one concern. Are you ever sorry you're marrying me and not Astrid? I know you had some very deep feelings for her. Sometimes I wonder how you could ever be drawn to someone like me. All I ask is that you not talk about her when I'm around, and that you give me a chance to win your heart. I know she hurt you badly; I promise I will never do that to you, ever. I'm not perfect; I'm not a great warrior or a great cook or a great anything; but I swear by any god you care to name, I'll do everything to be a good wife to you. My life's dream is for you to love me as much as I love you. For you to look in my eyes and tell me you love me would be the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to me.

"Oh, I almost forgot – I finished my first quilt! It was just a little one for a friend's baby, but now I know I can do it. I'll make a nice big one for our bed once we're married. I'll keep you warm one way or another!" He blushed when he read that part, and felt very warm indeed.

"I'm running out of parchment, so this note has to end. I'll see you in seven or eight days, and then I'll be yours forever!

"With all my heart,  
"Your Heather."

Hiccup read it twice. It hurt him a little that she didn't think he loved her. Apparently, his own notes didn't get the message across. Hopefully he'd be better at telling her in person.

He was reading it a third time when he heard the heavy flutter of dragon wings. A dark shape landed in the cove in the shadows near Toothless, and its rider dismounted and walked toward him. He quickly put the note in his vest pocket. How had someone found his cove? He thought he'd kept it a secret. Who could have...?

"Uhhh, good evening, Astrid. Why... are... you here?"

She stopped about five feet away from him. "I need to talk to you."

"Are you out of your mind? I'm an engaged man! My wedding is a week away! I can't spend time alone with you – one of us could get _killed!_"

She shook her head. "No one knows about this place, and no one knows that either of us is here, so we're safe. We need to talk about that wedding."

"_Oh,_ no." It was his turn to shake his head. "Like I said, it's only a week away. There is nothing to talk about."

"Hiccup, I've had to fight for everything I ever got in this life. I'm used to that; I expect it now. So when I see _you_ making a big mistake, I'm willing to fight to make it right."

"If you're calling my engagement a big mistake, then may I remind you, _you_ had a chance to make things different, and you threw it away? You threw _me_ away!"

"Hiccup... I was wrong. It's hard for me to admit that, but it's true. I was wrong to reject you. I... I'm sorry."

"I'm willing to forgive you, Astrid, but it's way too late for that to change anything. I put my heart in your hands, and you threw it on the ground and stomped on it. I found someone who helped me put it back together again, and you want me to turn around and break _her_ heart, just because _you're_ having second thoughts?"

"Hiccup, she's a liar and a deceiver! You _know_ that! I don't understand how you can even _trust_ her, never mind _like_ her!"

"She _was_ a liar, because the Outcasts had a sword at her parents' throats. She hasn't lied since then. You're a heartbreaker; what's _your_ excuse?"

"I told you, I was wrong and I'm sorry."

"And _I_ told _you,_ I'm engaged to be married! What part of 'engaged' don't you understand?"

"You're not married yet! It's not too late to avoid a huge mistake, Hiccup! Please, think this through!"

He sighed. "Astrid, you're wrong. It _is_ too late. I've made my choice, and I'm happy with it. You made your choice, and you're going to have to live with it. In any case, a deal is a deal. I couldn't back out now, even if I wanted to, and I don't want to."

Her expression turned bleak. "You'd really rather marry Heather than be with me?"

"Astrid, all she can offer me is plain, simple love. I don't think you understand how powerful that is. She isn't exciting or awesome or amazing or anything like you. She can't throw an axe, or ride a dragon, or beat the boys in arm-wrestling. She's clever and quick-witted, she's a hard worker and a fast learner, but those things don't matter that much to me.

"She just loves me. I guess that's all I ever really wanted."

That left her speechless for several seconds. "I can see she's got your brain under siege," she finally managed to say.

"Maybe she does," he nodded. "If it's true, then I like it."

"Hiccup, I _won't_ let you do this to yourself! I came here to fight for you, and I _will!_" She grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him, hard. He began to yield, then tried to push her away. He wasn't strong enough. She didn't let him go until she was good and ready.

He did _not_ react the way she thought he would. He spat on the ground, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and glared at her with pure rage.

"_What_ are you _thinking?!_ My family would _kill_ you for that! Heather's family would kill you _twice_ if they could!"

"Hiccup, look me in the eye and tell me you haven't dreamed of doing that for years!"

He looked her in the eye. "Back when I _thought_ I loved you, yes, I would have loved to do that. But I've learned some things about love since then.

"Love doesn't decide what another person needs, and then force them to accept it whether they like it or not. Love says, 'How can I help?' and then waits for an answer. Heather understands that, and I'm starting to. You don't. You're looking at me as some kind of conquest, a reward for fighting long enough and hard enough. I'm not your Dragon Training medal, Astrid."

His expression turned sad. "The two of us could have learned about love together, but all you wanted was a victory, and I was nothing but an obstacle for you to overcome. You haven't changed – you're _still_ looking for a victory, and I'm _still_ an obstacle you're trying to overcome. It was you rejecting me that opened my eyes to what love is really about. If it hadn't hurt so bad, I might even have thanked you for it.

"But you and I are done. It was your decision then, and it's my decision now. Heather loves me, and I love her, and I've made promises that I'm not going to break... and there's no room in this marriage for a third person. I think you should go now."

Her face hardened. "It took me long enough to find this hiding place of yours – I'll leave when I _feel_ like leaving!"

"Fine," he said sadly. "Keep on calling all the shots, and winning all the games, and making a contest of wills out of everything, if that's what makes you happy. I hope some day you realize there are better things than winning, before you wind up all by yourself."

He shook his head. "They say it's lonely at the top."

He hopped onto Toothless' back, and they soared away, leaving her alone in the cove.


	14. Chapter 14

**Heather Together** Chapter 14

Today was the day she was coming back.

Stoick left word with the men who worked the harbor; he wanted to be notified as soon as the Ketilssons' ship came into view. He meant to be there at the dock to greet his soon-to-be in-laws. But he couldn't spend the whole day waiting for them. Sailing ships couldn't move to a fixed schedule; they were too dependent on the strength and direction of the wind, which were unpredictable and changeable. A ship that arrived within a day of its due date was doing well. He had too many other things to do, especially with his son's wedding coming right up; he couldn't drop everything just to wait on the docks for a ship that might not even arrive today.

Hiccup also had plenty of things to do. He just found ways to delay doing them, or hand them off to someone else, or otherwise free up his time so he could spend the day watching and waiting for _her_ ship to arrive. He didn't actually wait in the harbor; he staked out a place on the cliffs above, so he could see further away. As soon as an unfamiliar sail appeared over the horizon, he meant to dash down the ramps to the docks and be the first to greet them and welcome his wife-to-be to her new home.

The other teens noticed him standing on the cliffs, staring out to sea. They knew what he was doing there, and they all had their own ideas about it.

"He's got it bad," Ruff said with a shake of her head. She'd gotten over her disappointment at not being chosen for him. It's not like she really _wanted_ to get married, or be married to him in particular; he had just represented a deal too good not to try for. It was nothing personal. The guy was obviously lovestruck over this other girl, which was unusual for a couple who weren't married yet. She kind of hoped it worked out well for them.

"It's kind of sad," her brother agreed. They were all the same age, but only one of them was on the verge of getting married. Tuff knew that this would be the beginning of the break-up of their group of friends. They'd probably all be married within two years, with homes and jobs and (probably) children of their own, and their days of hanging out together would be over. At least Hiccup wasn't marrying Ruffnut. That would have been too weird.

"I bet he's glad," Fishlegs decided. He knew nothing first-hand about girls and being in love, but he'd heard the same fairy stories as everyone else in town. They all knew that, in real life, people had to marry whoever their parents chose, and then learn to deal with that person, for better or for worse. Somehow, Hiccup had worked around that tradition and gotten his father to choose someone he really liked. Fishlegs had to ask him how he'd done it; maybe his own parents could do something similar for him when the time came.

"No, he's been had," Astrid announced. She still couldn't believe that a girl who had lied, deceived, and collaborated with the Outcasts could possibly turn out to be a good wife for their future chief. She'd done her best to talk him out of it, and for the first time in her life, she'd failed at something. She knew she had no one to blame but herself – it was her own fault for rejecting him when he was willing – but that didn't make her defeat any less galling.

"Hey, don't get mad!" Snotlout exclaimed. He was still insufferably pleased with this turn of events – Hiccup, his only competition for Astrid's hand, was about to marry somebody else, which left Astrid no choice except himself (he thought). How things went between his cousin and that other girl didn't really matter, as long as Astrid remained available until her parents decided that he, Snotlout, was the boy of her dreams after all. If she disagreed for some reason, she'd have to learn to adjust her dreams.

Hiccup was pretty well oblivious to them all. His eyes were on the horizon. Toothless joined him now and then, but couldn't figure out what Hiccup was staring at, so he got bored and wandered away. They went for a late-afternoon flight, in hopes that he could find them from the air, but there were no ships within five miles of Berk.

Daylight faded, the moon began to rise, and still there was no sign of the Ketilssons. The men who were to notify Stoick of the ship's arrival went off duty. The last of the fishing-fleet sailors finished their shipboard chores and went home, leaving only the night harbor-master and Hiccup, maintaining his vigil. He alternated between pacing back and forth, and sitting to rest his leg. It was nearly midnight when the harbor-master shouted, "Sail ho!" Hiccup could just make out a shadow, darker than the darkness, passing between the two lighthouse rocks. He ran down the ramps as fast as his metal leg would let him.

_The last time I was on the docks,_ he thought, _it was one of the worst days of my life. But it also was the turning point that made this day possible._

Once he was closer to sea level, it was easier to see the approaching ship's silhouette. They were making for the outer docks, which was sensible, considering they could barely see where they were going. The outer docks were narrower than the others, making them a poor choice for freight handling, but easier to dock at. He ran out to meet them, and caught the line that the sailor in the bow threw to him. In a few moments, the ship was made fast.

Hiccup now took the role of official greeter, in his father's absence. He helped each passenger off the ship and onto the dock. "Mrs. Ketilsson, it's good to see you again. Mr. Ketilsson, welcome back to Berk. I hope this visit will be more pleasant than the last one."

"Heather." He felt a big grin creeping across his face, and didn't try to fight it.

"Hiccup," she smiled. She tried to stay calm and composed, she really did, but she couldn't make it last. "_HICCUP!_" She threw herself at him, he caught her, they embraced...

...his heel caught on a cleat in the dock...

...and, as if in slow motion, they toppled off the dock together and plunged into the Arctic waters of the harbor.

The shock of hitting the frigid water was like a stunning blow to his entire body. "Get them out of there!" "Help them, quickly!" the sailors shouted. Heather's father was the first to extend a hand to him. "Her first," he sputtered, and pushed Heather toward her father. His metal leg was weighing him down! He thrashed over to the dock and held onto a piling until a sailor grabbed his wrist and pulled him up with one heave.

Both of them were shivering violently in the chill northern air. "They need to get warm and dry, fast," Mrs. Ketilsson exclaimed. "Where's the nearest fire pit?"

"G-g-guest home," Hiccup said through chattering teeth.

"We know the way – let's go!" her father said. "The last thing you two need is to catch pneumonia right before your wedding!" The Ketilssons hustled the two dripping-wet young people up the ramps and into the guest home, where the fire pit was burning low.

Heather's mother took charge. "Dear, stoke the fire. I'll find the blankets and furs. You two, just sit as close to the fire as you can." Mr. Ketilsson ran out to find the wood pile. Hiccup and Heather sat by the dimly-glowing coals, about two feet apart, still shivering hard.

Mrs. Ketilsson glanced at them. "Well, go on, you two! You got each other cold, so keep each other warm! I'll –" They were instantly side by side with their arms around each other. "...keep an eye on you," she finished. When her father came in with his first armful of firewood, he gave them a sharp glance and started to say something, but his wife cleared her throat and shook her head. Like any wise husband, he kept his mouth shut and did what he was told.

As soon as Hiccup thought he could speak without his teeth chattering, he turned to his fiancée. "You sure know how to make an entrance," he smiled.

"I thought the ritual washing happened on the wedding day," she smiled back.

"Heather, I've found you some dry clothes," Mrs. Ketilsson announced after a few moments. "As soon as I finish hanging this drapery across the room, you can get changed behind it. Hiccup, just to be safe, please turn and face the door."

"Got it, ma'am," he said, and did exactly as he was instructed.

A few minutes later, Heather sat down near him. "No more sharing body heat, you two," her mother warned them as she removed the drapery. "You're dry and he's still all wet. Hiccup, you should stay here until you're warm enough, and then get yourself home and change into something dry." She was running all around the guest home, unpacking her family's belongings and glancing at her daughter and future son-in-law every few seconds.

Heather held his hands in hers. He still felt cold to the touch. "Hiccup, are you going to be okay?" she asked anxiously.

"I'm starting to feel better," he nodded. "Thanks for keeping me warm."

"It won't be the last time," she whispered with a mischievous smile. He quivered, and it wasn't from the cold.

"_Now_ I'm feeling warm!" he grinned.

"Okay, that's enough, you two," Mrs, Ketilsson decided, although she didn't look unhappy. "Hiccup, if we wrap an extra-large fur around you, do you think you can get home without freezing to death?"

"I think so, ma'am," he nodded.

"Is this kind of thing going to happen often?" Mr. Ketilsson asked as he came in with another load of wood.

"Sir, my father once told me that every time I step outside, disaster falls," Hiccup explained. "I've been trying to cut down, though. This is the first disaster that's fallen on me in almost a year."

"Hmmm," her father thought. "Compared to our family history of disasters, that's not too bad. Heather, please see your young man to the door."

Heather adjusted the fur around Hiccup's shoulders as he opened the door. To his surprise, she slipped out the door with him and eased it shut.

She rested her hands on his shoulders. "When we fell in the water, you put _my_ life ahead of your own," she whispered. "I wanted to show you I noticed that, and I love you for it." She kissed him quickly on the lips and watched his face light up.

He looked in her eyes, and saw more love than he'd ever imagined possible. His hands found their way around her waist, she closed her eyes, and...

Years from now, a famous book would consider this as one of the five kisses that were rated the most passionate and pure, ever. All they knew was that they were completely lost in the feelings they were sharing. When their lips finally parted, he nearly lost his balance for the second time that night. All he could do was whisper, "Wow."

"I think I'm going to like being married to you," she smiled. "Now get yourself home before you freeze." He ran home, or maybe he flew home; he wasn't sure which. She slipped back inside, wearing a smile that she couldn't erase...

...and was confronted by both her parents, with their arms folded, scowling.

"What?" she said.

"You know 'what'," her father retorted. "Your mother and I weren't born yesterday, you know."

"And I suppose _you_ never laid a finger on each other before _you_ got married?" she challenged them.

"Well... that has nothing to do with it," her mother answered. "He's the chief's son; everybody in town is going to be watching the two of you."

"After midnight? Probably not," she replied. "Besides, I had to do _something_ to help him stay warm."

"You're not even a little bit sorry?" her father demanded.

"Nope. Not even a little."

Her parents looked at each other and sighed. Finally, her mother looked back at her. "The wedding is in three days. For the sake of both our families, can you _please_ behave yourselves that long?"

"I'll try. I promise," she said.

"I really hope so," her father nodded. "I didn't travel all this way just to get caught in the middle of a scandal." He yawned deeply. "Well, it's been a long day. Let's get some sleep."

They all retired for the night. Heather could still feel the tingle of his lips on hers. Oddly, she didn't feel sleepy at all.

**o**

A/N  
_The "famous book" is, of course, __The __Princess __Bride__._


	15. Chapter 15

**Heather Together** Chapter 15

They'd made it.

First, they'd made it through the pre-wedding preparations.

She'd had to endure a ritual washing, surrounded by female relatives who told her everything she'd need to know about keeping her husband happy. Some of their suggestions were common-sense, some bordered on magic charms, and a few of the more explicit ones made her want to run out of the bath house screaming. _I don't remember signing up for __that__,_ she thought at several points.

Then they'd dressed her in her best clothes, unbraided her hair and brushed it out, and crowned her with the bridal crown that had been her mother's. They said she looked radiant. She wanted to run and hide.

He also underwent a ritual washing, surrounded by male relatives who told him everything he'd need to know about marriage, and that meant _everything_. He was blushing furiously before they were halfway finished. That only encouraged his relations to get even more explicit in their suggestions. _I couldn't do __that__ – not to __her__,_ he thought at several points.

Then they'd dressed him in his best clothes and helped him look as dapper and handsome as he could. He didn't feel dapper or handsome. He felt like plain old Hiccup in a fancy wrapper; he wasn't fooling anyone.

Then they'd made it through the wedding ceremony.

They had to take part in a sacrifice to an assortment of gods that they didn't really believe in, and get sprinkled by the blood of the sacrifice so they'd share in whatever blessings might come down as a result.

They'd exchanged swords, with their wedding rings balanced on the pommels. When the swords were drawn, the warriors among the guests did some quiet ooh'ing and ahh'ing. Hiccup the swordsmith had outdone himself. Not only were the blades sharp enough to shave with, and bright enough to be used as mirrors; running up and down the length of them, on both sides, were the genealogies he'd been forced to memorize, inlaid into the steel with gold. He'd done the same with her family line on her sword. The hilts and scabbards were decorated with reliefs of dragons' heads, with eyes made of tiny chips from Toothless' scales. They were fully functional weapons, but they were also works of art. It was easy to imagine them as the "blades of fame" that some future descendant would claim from a relative, or rob a tomb for, to use in his own wedding some day.

Once they'd passed their swords to each other, they put on their wedding rings. These were basic gold bands, except that Heather noticed he'd engraved something on the inside of each ring. It was a single word, spelled in simple runes: "Always." She smiled at that.

Then they exchanged their vows to each other. They didn't follow a precise formula like many wedding ceremonies require; they just spoke from the heart about their desire to care for each other, uphold each other's honor and safety, and inspire Vikings everywhere with their marriage. Hiccup had labored over what he wanted to say, and his vows were almost poetic. There was nothing especially poetic about what Heather promised her husband, but her words were simple and sincere, and the loving look she gave him was all the poetry he needed.

That was the end of the actual ceremony. But they weren't officially married. Not yet.

_Then_ they'd made it through the reception.

He'd helped her cross the threshold of the Mead Hall without tripping, which was important – if she'd fallen in any way, it would be a bad sign for their marriage. He had flung his sword so it sank into the main pillar of the Hall, which was also an important sign. It didn't sink in as deeply as it might have done in the hands of a stronger man, but as long as it didn't fall out, all was well.

She'd served him the special goblet of mead, reciting from memory the ancient verse about the ale, and trying hard not to smile when she had to address Hiccup as "thou oak-of-battle." They'd shared a drink from it, the first of many – they were required to drink mead together every day for a month, the so-called "honey moon."

They'd endured the silly ritual of laying Thor's hammer in her lap and reciting another ancient verse, in what Spitelout had dismissed as "the blessing of the baby-making parts." The idea of her and him making babies together... neither of them was ready to think too hard about that.

Then came the banquet and the entertainment, which went on for hours. There were songs, dances, and stories, along with all the food and drink the village chief could afford, but the high point came when the _flytings_ were announced. These ritual exchanges of light-hearted insults could be very amusing, depending on who took part. Today, the "star performance" came when Snotlout challenged Tuffnut to a _flyting_. Lout's insults were a lot more creative, while Tuff went for the jugular with his crudities. After a few minutes, the members of Heather's family who didn't know the participants were worrying that the _flyting_ might devolve into a _hólmgang,_ a ritual duel with drawn swords. But the two teens were just letting off steam, and ended their "duel" happy that they'd amused their friends and scored a few points off each other. Each considered himself the winner, of course.

And now, they'd made it through the most awful part of all... the public consummation of their marriage.

He'd tried to think of some clever way to get out of it, or hide what they were doing, or _anything_ except the usual Viking way. He'd come up empty. He and the girl who loved him were going to start their private married life in full public view. Twelve men, including his father and uncle and two of her uncles, had filed into their house and spread out so they could all see. It might have helped if he'd known that Stoick had firmly warned them all to make no comments, under penalty of having to clean up the Mead Hall after the last of the drunken Vikings had been carried out. But even that knowledge would have done nothing for the towering embarrassment that made him view his marriage bed only as something he wanted to hide under.

She sat on the bed, smiling nervously. He removed her bridal crown; his hands were visibly shaking. Then he sat down next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She just nodded. He realized she was too scared and nervous to talk. He'd thought he would max out the nervousness meter, but she had to add her female modesty to the mix, not to mention the unpleasantness of a woman's first marital experience. He felt such compassion for her, he forgot his own nervousness.

He sat next to her and stroked her hair for a few seconds. She looked down, then gazed into his eyes with the same loving look she'd given him when she spoke her vows. A quick nod of her head told him she was okay with this.

From their first tentative kiss, he completely forgot about the witnesses, and everything else in the world as well. He hoped she did, too.

Now the witnesses were gone; he hadn't even noticed them leave. He was clinging with sweet exhaustion to his bride under the sleeping furs. She still hadn't spoken a word since they'd entered their house together. He kissed her gently and asked again, "Are you okay?"

"Are you happy?" she asked softly.

"Perfectly," he answered.

"Then I'm okay." She gave him that loving look again, and he couldn't help embracing her with all his strength, such as it was. The last time he'd held her that tight, it was on the town docks, and he'd felt her rough outer garment under his hands. Now it was just the soft skin of her back that he felt, and she was warm wherever she touched him, and if she never let him go, that would be just about perfect.

"I'm sorry it hurt," he whispered.

"It wasn't as bad as I feared," she whispered back. "My aunts and cousins told me you'd be some kind of out-of-control brute. You weren't."

After a minute or so, she released him and pulled away. "Hiccup," she began hesitantly, "there's something I have to say to you... this isn't going to be easy for me."

"What's wrong?" he asked nervously.

"I know I wasn't your first choice for a wife," she went on. "I know you probably still have some feelings for... for her... but will you give me the chance to take her place in your heart? Maybe I'm not as –"

He kissed her quickly on the lips, which had the desired effect of stopping her in mid-sentence.

"Heather, whose name did I cry out tonight? Several times?"

"Mine," she whispered.

"When I completely forgot we were being watched tonight, who do you suppose I was thinking about?"

She blushed a little.

"When I was rejected by one girl and left behind by the other one, which one did I move heaven and earth to go after?" She didn't answer, but he saw her eyes beginning to fill.

"There _is_ no 'her'," he continued. "_You're_ my first choice for a wife, because you're the one I married. You've won my heart, Heather. I don't know how you did it, or when, but you did it. I'm all yours, and you're mine, and we aren't going to talk about anybody else. You're my wife, my _only_ wife, and you have no competition, past, present, or future. Okay?"

She laid her head on his shoulder. He felt moisture.

"Those had better be happy tears," he whispered.

"They are," she sniffled. "I thought _I_ was supposed to make _you_ happy, not the other way around!"

"I never could do things the Viking way," he smiled.

She raised her head to give him that look. "I love you, Hiccup."

"I love you too, Heather."

"You... you do?"

"Mm-hmm. I do. Just like it says on your ring. Always." He kissed her, she wrapped her arms around him again, and nothing else in the world mattered.


	16. Chapter 16

**Heather Together** Chapter 16

When he woke up next morning, she was lying on her side next to him, watching him, quietly humming a song she'd heard from a traveling bard. When she saw that he was awake, she began singing softly.

"Lying beside you, here in the dark, feeling your heart beat with mine.  
"Softly you whisper, you're so sincere. How could our love be so blind?  
"We sailed on together, we drifted apart, and here you are by my side."

Her singing voice wasn't perfect, but he liked it, he decided. He caressed her cheek with his fingertips. "Mmmm," she purred, and gave him that loving look again. He embraced her – he couldn't help it. "You melt me when you look at me that way," he sighed.

"That just means I'm happy," she said quietly. "Are you happy?"

"Happier than I've ever been in my entire life," he whispered. "That's _your_ fault."

"Good," she whispered back. "That means I'm doing my job."

He rose up on one elbow. "Heather, my bride," he said softly, "I know they drilled it into you that it's your job to make me happy, and I like that. A lot. But do you know what? I think it's _my_ job to make _you_ happy, too."

"Is that traditional?" she wondered.

"No, but I was never very good with traditions," he smiled. "One of the things that makes me the happiest is seeing you happy."

"That's exactly how I feel," she sighed, and cuddled up against him.

_(Our T-rated narrative will now take a break while they make each other very happy indeed. Come back in half an hour. No, better make it three-quarters of an hour. We don't want to rush them.)_

"I suppose we ought to get dressed," Hiccup said slowly.

"Why?" she wondered. "Can't we just stay under the furs? Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes, we have to go back to the Mead Hall for the presenting of your morning-gift, and if we went there dressed like this, people will talk about us," he grinned. "We can't have that, can we?"

She blushed a bit. "Do you have to watch me while I'm getting dressed?" she asked shyly.

"I don't _have_ to, but I'd _like_ to," he grinned. "After all, you _are_ the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. But if you're really uncomfortable about it, I'll close my eyes."

"Thank you," she said. "I appreciate that. Maybe someday I won't mind, but... this is all so new to me."

He nodded and buried his face in the pillow until she told him it was okay to look. She averted her eyes (mostly) while he got dressed.

"Oh, you forgot one thing," he said. He took a metal hoop, a little bigger than a bracelet, off a nail by the door and handed it to her. Dangling from the hoop were about a dozen iron keys. She took them with a puzzled expression.

"These are the signs of your authority as my wife," he explained. "You're the head of our house now, and you're in charge of everything that goes on inside these walls. You wear the keys to show everyone else that you have that authority."

"Is it that big a deal?" she wondered.

"I'm surprised your relatives didn't teach you about that yesterday morning," he said. "In the past, women have divorced their husbands for the crime of taking their keys away. Yes, it's a _very_ big deal."

"Then I guess I'd better do a good job of wearing them," she nodded. She looped her sash through the hoop twice and re-tied it.

"Now, I think we're ready for the morning-gift," he decided. They stepped out of their house, planning to walk to the Mead Hall... but they were cut off by a large black dragon who wanted attention and wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

"Okay, Toothless, here's what we'll do," Hiccup decided. "We'll go for a quick ride, all three of us, and then you'll take us to the Mead Hall. We'll arrive in style! When we're done there, we'll take you for a _real_ flight, I promise." The dragon seemed to think that was a fair compromise, and after two wild swoops and a loop-the-loop, he lightly landed in front of the Hall. As they prepared to go in, Heather took his hand – a bit hesitantly, he thought. He gave her a reassuring squeeze.

When they walked into the Hall, it looked like the party had been going all night without a break; nothing had changed except the number of Vikings passed out on the floor. Everyone who was still awake clapped and cheered when they entered, hand in hand.

"There they are!" Stoick bellowed. "Come in, come in, you two! There's one more thing we have to take care of, before it's official." Hiccup led Heather to the big center table, found a place that wasn't sticky with spilled ale, and seated her while he stood behind her. The chief solemnly placed a smallish wooden chest in front of her. It was heavy and it clinked.

She opened the lid... and her mouth fell open. She'd been led to expect copper and silver coins. What she got was silver and gold.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ketilsson, would you please confirm that this is what we agreed on?" the chief called. They were already nearby, so they could easily look in and nod.

"In that case, the contract is fulfilled!" Stoick shouted. "Congratulations, Hiccup and Heather! You are _now_ man and wife!" The whole hall cheered.

"It's about time," Hiccup said, just loud enough that Heather could hear him. "We've been _acting_ like man and wife since last night."

"Hiccup... I've never seen this much money in my whole life!" she exclaimed. "Is this all for me?"

"It's your morning-gift," he nodded. "It's all yours."

"I... I can't imagine what I might spend it on."

Her mother leaned over. "Usually, you spend it on raising your children. They can be expensive. Speaking of which, can you join us women-folk over at that table? There's something we need to talk about." Heather followed her mother to the table and sat down with her female relatives.

"Tell us what you dreamed last night," her oldest aunt asked. "We'll interpret your dream, and that will tell us something about the future of your marriage."

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," she began; her aunts smiled and nodded. "It was just... strange, trying to sleep with someone else in the bed. There _was_ one dream that I remember, though.

"People were shooting arrows at Hiccup – I don't remember who or why. I had a shield, so I stepped in front of him to protect him, and four arrows hit the shield. I pulled three of them out and threw them back at the archers. The fourth one broke when I pulled it out. Hiccup fixed that one and threw it back himself."

"That's a _very_ good dream!" said the oldest aunt. "The four arrows mean you will have four children – three spaced close together, and a fourth one later on. That fourth one will be a son, very special in the eyes of his father. The fact that you defended your husband in your dream means you'll add to your new family's honor and good name."

"The fact that none of the arrows hit you means you'll both live long, full lives," added a younger aunt. The old aunt nodded.

They all congratulated her. She accepted their plaudits, while wondering what the big deal was – it's not like she had any control over what she dreamed, right?

While this was going on, Stoick actually lowered his voice enough so only Hiccup could hear him. "Son, congratulations. I think we chose wisely. She's going to make a fine wife for you. It's obvious to everyone that you're very happy with each other. I only wish your mother could have been here to see this day."

"Thanks, Dad," Hiccup said quietly. "Thank _you_ for everything you did to make this happen for me."

Stoick nodded happily. "It looks like you managed to marry for love, in spite of everything I told you. I knew you weren't just doing your duty when you started bringing her those messages with your dragon."

Hiccup looked startled and guilty at the same time. "You _knew_ about that?"

The chief laughed deeply. "Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it! But I don't let on about everything I know." He glanced up and saw Heather returning from the women's table. "Now you take that wonderful little lady home. You've got one month to do nothing but drink mead together and make each other happy."

Hiccup rose with a smile and wrapped one arm around his bride's waist. "Dad, just for once, I think I can obey you without a problem."

They left the Hall to more cheers. They didn't notice the applause – they were holding hands and gazing at each other again. "Am I dreaming, or are we really married?" she asked, her eyes full of wonder.

"Yup. You caught me, fair and square," he nodded.

"_You_ caught _me_ a long time ago," she murmured.

Ahead of them, he thought he saw someone with metal shoulder pads walking toward them, then suddenly turn aside into an alley when she saw them coming. He glanced at Heather, who was looking questioningly at him – she'd seen Astrid too.

He gathered his wife in his arms and kissed the daylights out of her. She didn't even try to resist. Several passers-by stared for a moment, then looked away in embarrassment. They were making a total spectacle of themselves in front of the whole town.

And they didn't care.

After all, they were in love.

**o**

A/N  
_The song lyrics are from "Open Arms" by Journey._


	17. Chapter 17

**Heather Together** Chapter 17 (Epilog)_**  
**_

This is a time line of the lives of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Heather Ketilsson. The number in front of each event is Hiccup's age when it happened.

**o**

00: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is born to Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk, and Valhallarama Hrothgardottir.

01: Heather is born into the Ketilsson family of Fetje Island, their first and only child.

07: Valhallarama dies of unknown causes.

15: Hiccup trains Toothless, wins Dragon Training, and slays the Red Death.

16: Hiccup is engaged to Heather Ketilsson.

17: Hiccup and Heather marry.

18: Heather bears Hiccup a son, Erik.  
18: Astrid marries Bergsveinn of Kelso Island. Two weeks later, he slaps her. Her response leaves him walking bow-legged for a week. They work out a truce and live fairly happily.

20: Heather bears Hiccup another son, Oddvar.

22: Toothless accidentally eats an eel and becomes very sick. Heather works with Gothi to make an elixir from boiled eels and herbs, which heals him.

23: Heather bears Hiccup a daughter, Sigrún. Heather is injured in childbirth; Gothi says her child-bearing days are over. Her aunt who predicted four children says, "Wait and see."

26: Heather trains a midnight-blue Deadly Nadder and names it Skybolt.

27: Hiccup falls into the clutches of a huldra in the forest on the mainland. Heather and Skybolt rescue him before anything bad happens.

29: Heather's child-bearing days aren't as 'over' as Gothi thought. She bears Hiccup a son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock IV. Her aunt who predicted four children says, "Told you so."

31: Stoick the Vast resigns his position due to failing health. Hiccup succeeds him as Chief of Berk.

32: Heather bears Hiccup a daughter, Alwilda, their fifth child. Her aunt who predicted four children says, "Oops."

33: Hiccup and Heather's son, Erik, wins the Thawfest Games. He dedicates his victory to his grandfather Stoick.

34: Heather stops an Outcast assassination attempt on Hiccup by tripping the assassin, then stabbing him with her belt seax.  
34: Erik wins the Thawfest Games again. He dedicates his victory to his father.

35: Hiccup and Heather, with Toothless and Skybolt, rescue Erik, Oddvar, and Sigrún from a Berserker kidnap attempt.

36: Oddvar wins the Thawfest Games, beating Erik by one point, and dedicates his victory to his mother.

37: Erik marries Edda, the oldest daughter of Bergsveinn and Astrid.

? ?: Hiccup and Heather really _do_ live happily ever after.

_THE END_


End file.
